What's A Dedicated Captain Like You Doing
by Anotherjaneway
Summary: Captains Roy and Johnny relive the best and the worst of their lives after leaving Station 51 upon their promotion. REGULAR SEASONS FINALE on Emergency Theater Live. Also called The Greatest Rescues of "Emergency Theater Live" stories collection


This is a text version of the original still airing imaged, music soundtracked story.

Emergency Theater Live, Episode Fifty One

51. What's A Dedicated Captain Like You Doing Season Seven - Episode 51 Short summary-  
Captains Roy and Johnny relive the best and the worst of their lives after leaving Station 51 upon their promotion. REGULAR SEASONS FINALE.

****WARNING**** The long summary to come is very story spoiling and will take away plot surprises if you read it now before reading the longer story below it.

Decide now if you want to read this episode's detailed summary before doing so.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Long Summary-  
Captains DeSoto and Gage reunite unexpectedly four years after their promotion away from Station 51. They begin sharing flashbacks of their lives during those separated years. Dixie confides confidence in the new head nurse of the E.R., Sharon Walters. Flashback,  
Dixie's appendicitis attack on her day off. Future Roy and Johnny decide to run in a manikin resuscitation exercise to Rampart to extend their visit with each other. Kel Brackett collapses due to high blood pressure in Hospital Administrator Dixie McCall's office and is treated by a responding Roy, Johnny and paramedic cadets. Feeling their own mortality, Roy and Johnny visit Station 51 and go calling on their old captain, Hank Stanley. They wonder about the real reason Hank burned Chief McConnikee's hat and find out why through Cap's flashback memory over lunch. Roy shares a time of his own when he suffers a nervous breakdown over the loss of a child on a mudslide bus rescue gone bad. They reminisce about Henry, the station basset hound's heart attack rescue. Hank shares the real reason why Captain Dick Hammer left the fire department before his own tenure there. Kel Brackett awakens in ICU, recovering from his near stroke from hypertension, and relives the trials and tribulations he suffered trying to relate to his own father. He plans a fishing trip and they make amends upon his discharge from Rampart. Back at the station, the three captains share the outcome of two games faced, but never completed in the eyes of any of them, a poker game with mafia, and the big USC football game where they originally missed the outcome of the game.  
They flashback to the week when a Make A Wish child, Felicia comes to shadow their careers before she succumbs to a fatal illness.  
Captain Gage gets to ply his revenge against snakes. Remembering pain, they recall and relive a rescue in which Chet Kelly reveals a secret life, after death.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Story Unfolds...

Season Six, Episode Fifty One, Season Finale What's A Dedicated Captain Like You Doing.. Debut Launch: February 6th, 2008.

PROJECT Regular Season Finale'

From: patti keiper Date: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:30 pm Subject: Future Perfect..

The sun was already hot and high in the chalk colored sky when the awards luncheon at the fire academy next to L.A. Headquarters concluded.

::Thank G*d that finally ended.:: thought Roy as he pulled off his hat and unbuttoned his black formal dress coat. He was one of the first officers outside and he wasn't surprised at all to see a very familiar outline dressed similarly, doing the same thing. Feeling a quirk of amusement, DeSoto cupped a hand over his mouth and shouted, disguising his voice. "John Gage! Stand at attention!" he barked, sounding exactly like Battalion 14. The animated shape snapped to, just like he expected, into a rigid inspection posture, quite satisfactorily, in complete startlement. Roy drew close enough for his jacket sleeve stripes to reveal themselves as well as his features.

Johnny dissolved into open surprise and total shock as recognition dawned. His face immediately beamed a relieved crooked smile.  
"Roy!" he called out, happy. "What's a dedicated captain like you doing in such a tedious chore bound place like this?" he asked brightly.

"I could be asking you the same thing." DeSoto said wryly, taking his old paramedic partner's hand into an eager I've-missed-you-terribly grip.

Johnny nodded, finally pleased in a softening way. "My men have been doing me proud. One of my paramedics at 36's is up for the medal of valor for saving three from a duplex fire."

"I saw that. Last month, right? It was in all the papers."

"Eh. Heh..h. Unintentionally, of course, like I told the chief.." Johnny fidgetted. He became uncomfortable, holding up a hand.

"Come on." Roy disbelieved. "You loved every minute of it as finally getting another one over on Brice." Roy said, leaning forward, spot on.

Gage readjusted his stance, "Well... Yes, I did. And no, I didn't hit on that lady reporter even though she was drop dead gorgeous."

"So you've finally grown up since we both decided to get ourselves promoted.." Roy demurred, letting him off the hook.

Johnny shot Roy a dirty look. But only briefly. "Four more years since IS a bit long."

"Yeah. And so's your hair still, I see." DeSoto said, grabbing for Gage's white dress hat so he could see the lack of a cut better.

Johnny avoided him playfully. "And yours. That's sure new..."

DeSoto shrugged, finally standing still enough to cross his arms together companionably tucked in over his elbows. "What can I say? You started a trend everybody liked back then. They still do."

"Yeah, I'm glad of that. I've been telling the guys at my station that their jacket flaps are plenty to block out any falling embers."

"And having all that wet hair on your neck feels real good in a fire." Roy agreed. "I've found mine cuts down on burns. A lot."

Gage threw out a hand. "There you go. I've always said that the fire department should be less like the military and--"

"...more like a brotherhood. I know. And you've succeeded. Look at us." Roy finished, grinning toothily. Then he became contemplative, when he began to realize something else. "Did you know we've the current distinction of being the only paramedic pair holding simultaneous captainships? The youngest ever."

Gage patted DeSoto on the shoulder and gripped it affectionately for a moment. "Yeah. Guess we did set that new standard. Just look at how many men are joining the department now.." he sighed expansively, glancing over at the recruited cadets running their skills and aptitude tests behind them on the training grounds.

"You mean, men and women." Roy argued. "I've got two myself signed on at home, at 10's."

"Really? As paramedics?" Johnny asked, his dating appetite whetted.

"No, as in regular firefighters." Roy smiled.

Gage made a face as he considered that idea. "Well, can they pull their own weight with all the boys?" he asked seriously, all captain.

Roy scoffed good naturedly. "They wouldn't have been signed with the county if they couldn't, now would they?" DeSoto winked, teasing Gage.

"Aw, that's true. So, your two.. are they--"

"...married or not? None of your business. You can't dally with anyone not your own rank at work. Same as always, remember?" Roy prompted.

"Don't remind me." Gage scowled, slumping against the railing which bordered the steaming parking lot where it sizzled under a grove of spreading, spicy scented eucalyptus trees.

Both firemen breathed deep appreciably.

"Hey, no brush fires today.." they both said together, almost in the same breath. Then they laughed about their parallel captains' instincts and thought now going out strong in both of them.

Gage continued their first line of conversation.  
"Huh." Johnny grunted. "It'll probably be thirty years before that happens.  
I'll be an old man by the time a woman finally earns her trumpets like we have done."

"I don't think it'll take that long before the gender glass ceiling shatters and falls. The department's too dynamic to not utilize the best of just about everybody who's becoming a part of us." DeSoto speculated.

"Don't be too sure." Gage said. "Firefighting's too popular an idea with boys who're still growing up like me, to not foster some jealous guarding of positions as they're being handed out."

"Let's hope not. Smashing stereotypes was what the seventies were all about." DeSoto chuckled.

"And so now we're into the 1980s. Seems strange writing down an eight on all my checks nowadays." Johnny mused, grinning oddly.

"Times change." Roy said, fingering his tie.

"Oh, constantly." Gage grimaced, agreeing in seconds. "I don't know how you take it as well as you do. Now that's the hardest lesson I've ever had to learn in all my life..." he said with exasperation.

Roy smiled gently. "You mean, even over handling your emotions on any of your child down calls?"

"Even over them." he whispered. "I hate the fact that I'm getting older already."

"At thirty one?" Roy giggled.

"Yeah." Gage spat back seriously.

"It's gonna happen someday. But,.. I don't see any gray hairs cropping up just yet on ya." Roy teased.

"Don't rush me." Johnny frowned, tactfully not mentioning the ones newly sun sparkled at Roy's temples. "So, how've you been? What's been happening with you lately? We haven't even called each other. Not once."

"Not much. Well, .. that's not true.. Everything actually." DeSoto admitted.

"Why don't you tell me about it.." Johnny shrugged. "We're friends. Rusty ones, but still the best of em I'd like to think."

"I think I will. Let me buy you a soda?" Roy asked.

Johnny reached out and stabbed him in the chest slowly, with a finger. "Only if I beat you over to the closest vending machine.."  
he said quickly, suddenly taking off into a sprint for the nearest food building.

"You're on!" Roy yelled, chasing after him.

Gage and DeSoto were still very much like a pair of little boys challenging each other on the playground. The only difference now was that the two were finally at the very top of their careers, and they were still playing..

Flying off their heads, their two pristinely white captain's hats went bouncing onto the melting asphalt in awkward circles as the wind claimed them in a winning friction game move as they began to run even faster. Their ties and jackets soon billowed off, carelessly abandoned, in a bid for increased fleetness and for more breathing room in the blistering heat.

Roy won the race.

Gage impacted the outdoor pop machine with both palms as he stopped his flight. Breathing hard to catch his breath, Johnny sagged onto his butt onto the ground by the hanger's picnic tables. "Y--You're what..." he gasped.  
"Forty two now?"

"Yeah.." Roy grinned, still managing his own violent air hunger while sweating buckets. "But I'm nowhere near slowing down, eh? Not even a tiny bit." he crowed. "Nice to know that I can still beat you in an honest foot race." he gasped. "Once a Viet Nam vet--" he said, plunking down next to Johnny in a like lump.

"Oh, would you just shut up and let me go grab ya that pop?!" Gage griped, clawing his way weakly up to the pay slot over their heads.

Roy started laughing and he couldn't stop. It became infectious.  
Soon Johnny was, too, in between his gulps of icy Dr. Pepper.  
"Wh- What's so funny?"

DeSoto smiled. "You know how long it's been since anybody's told me to do that?"

Gage giggled, then he burped loudly in celebration. "About four years?.." he guessed, realizing that the last one who said that, had been him.

"Right first time." Roy saluted with his own glass bottle of strawberry Crush, held aloft. "I'll never forget the last time.. Remember when?"

"How can I forget? We were in deep auto pilot mode that day. All day."  
he clarified.

"Yeah.." panted Roy. "We sure were. In the worst way." and soon, both paramedic captains fell into reminiscing that rescue in a mutual shared memory as they rested.

The emergency doors at Rampart burst open under multiple patient arrivals. An authoritative voice ripped out physician backed dictates smartly. "Squad 36, Treatment Two with your pediatric submersion. Respiratory and X-ray are standing by....110? Straight to surgery for that subdural, room 3, Dr. Welby. He's already been scrubbed in. Squad 8? Go to Room Five. We'll be delivering your partum previa right down here in the ER. ObGyn's booked solid upstairs, but we have a baby doc available for her. How far along is she now?"

"Dilated twelve centimeters." replied Dwyer.

The E.R. nurse calling the shots sucked in her breath. "OOo, okay, boys.  
Rush it." Then she turned to grasp the panting, fretting mother's hand as she was rapidly wheeled on by. "Ready to meet your second daughter? She'll be here before you know it. You're still in good hands...." she soothed, lightly brushing her sweaty forehead. The soon to be mom again relaxed into her next contraction, comforted. "Oh, thank you.."  
she sighed as the door closed on her room, separating them.

The frantic hubbub that had entered the hospital, ended afterwards,  
instantly.

With great satisfaction, Head Nurse Sharon Walters crossed off the latest crisis from her "now" list with a flourish of her very sharp pencil.  
"Check!" she said, clicking off the stop watch that she had hanging openly from within her white side pocket of her all white uniform. "Oh, rabbits!"  
she said, peering at its face. "That resolution set of orders was given only ten seconds faster than the last case crunch from this morning. Must do better." she muttered to herself.

Right then, the elevator doors opened up and Dr. Early and Dr. Morton rushed out onto the floor, unfolding like pairs of stethoscopes from their pockets to cast about their necks. Both were clutching tone screeching pagers. Sharon yawned in farce as they got there to her side. "What took you so long, doctors? Our current emergency cases now are no longer incoming. They've already been handled."  
she punctuated with a crisp nod of her head. "Landsakes,.. I told the operator NOT to bother you on your lunch breaks for this." she sniffed in dismay as she settled back down onto the stool at the main emergency room desk. "I'll let the administrator know about that little oversight right away.." she promised, picking up the phone.

Mike and Joe both raised their eyebrows as they skidded to a halt near her on the scuffed tiles before sullenly trodding back to the elevators to resummon one for a return trip to the cafeteria.

Morton muttered. "Was Dixie ever that fast on triaging when she was just starting out?"

"Nope." Early said, watching the numbers fall to their level.

"Well.. I'll say right now that another legacy is most certainly being born today right before our very eyes." Morton said, getting on as the doors opened.

Joe joined him, suddenly sniffling as he wiped a genuine tear off his cheek. "That kinda hits you right here, doesn't it?" he said,  
gesturing with a closed fist, to his chest.

Mike smiled and shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I wasn't even a ..a.  
a.....zitfaced teenager yet when Dixie was new enough at her job... to compare anything." he answered honestly.

"You're missing out." Early said, getting a hold of himself and his budding pride. "It's a miracle. Dixie's a real protege mom now. First class."

"If you say so. But I do like what I see in Sharon today when it comes to crisis situations. Talk about a real pro. Wow.." Morton gaped. "We may never get to work again." he said in jest.

Early burst out laughing.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The phone rang on the huge dark oak desk only for half a second before long elegant fingernails picked up its receiver. "This is Floor Five, Executive Admin McCall speaking..." she prompted.

Right away, on the other end of the line, Sharon Walters began to laugh uproariously. ##I know it's been years, but I'm still not used to thinking of our hospital's own Dixie as the main paper pusher and top end coordinator...## she chuckled, snorting at her friend.

McCall fired back, a warm rasp coloring her voice."Oh, yeah? Well, I'm not used to some blue smocked college graduate filling my old shoes downstairs.." she countered. "How's it going, kid?" she asked easily,  
afterwards. She began playing with the loosely curled waves that now rippled down her long unbound waist length hair.

##Oh, it's going. My total recall's coming in handy.##

"See? I told you things would work out all right. I knew the first day I laid eyes on you that you'd be my ultimate successor. It was just too bad that a slight adolescent nursing student-to-doctor crush along with a late dying klutz gene prevented others from seeing your true potential. But I was never fooled. Who do you think signed your final promotion papers?"

##You?## Sharon asked.

"Oh, I helped. Sure. But it was really all the doctors you've ever worked with who eventually decided. They all agreed that you were the only nurse out there who had that sparky drive already inborn, to head the E.R. Department."

##They did?##

Dixie got firm over the phone. "Sharon Walters. I've never lied to you and I'm not gonna start doing that now. Of course it's up to the M.D. staff to choose their pitch hitter. I'm mean, they're the ones who're gonna have to come up swinging when the patients start rolling in. Who better than someone who fields the starting line perfectly,  
every time? Congratulations on ace-ing your first month down there at my old desk. But getting back to the subject of why you called?  
What's bugging you? Is it that horrible fruit machine again? I tell ya,  
all you gotta do is nudge it a little with your hip first to--"

"##It's the operators, Dix. They're toning out false priorities on the physicians' pagers again.## she groused openly.

"Oh. Uh. Well... That's a problem that even I've never been able to solve. That department's sort of like a nurse's schedule. You never know where your messages are going to go. Even if they get to the right place, they're always messed up. Our operators don't know how to play "Operator" I'm afraid." she shared. "Try repeating yourself to them twice once over the phone next time you make a personnel request and see how that goes? That may work better since that's how they end up parrot speaking on their job anyways.." Dixie quipped.  
"They always double page."

##Oh, very funny.## Walters giggled.

"Hey, now don't knock it unless you've tried it, okay?" McCall suggested. "It just may work."

##Okay, Thanks, Dix.##

"Anytime. Bye bye."

##Bye..## said Sharon. Then she hung up quickly with her usual energy.

------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Roy and Johnny as Captains shaking hands.

Photo: Roy and Johnny listening to speeches, dressed formal.

Photo: Roy and Johnny relaxing outside as captains.

Photo: L.A. Headquarters parking lot.

Photo: Strawberry Crush soda bottle.

Photo: Johnny Gage close grinning in a black cap's jacket.

Photo: Station 36 in Carson.

Photo: Station Ten at night, getting a run.

Photo: Dixie in office clothes with long hair.

Photo: Sharon Walters talking to Joe Early in the hallway.

*  
From: Patti Keiper  
Date: Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:18 pm Subject: Reminiscing The Past..

[(Cameo scene insert at middle by Jill "wone3")- ETL fan writer from the original ETL episode 00:51 Episode Fifteen]

Johnny Gage repositioned the captain's hat on his head and he sighed, actually enjoying the heat of the growing day. "Remember the time when Dixie got so mule headed that she even outdid me?"

"How could I forget?" said DeSoto, leaning back against the dew kissed soda machine standing near the entrance to L.A. Headquarters.

"I wonder how it all got started for her." Johnny chuckled.

"Only she knows for sure. We can only forever wonder." Roy smiled, playing with his half empty pop bottle in his hands as he rested. Memory faded to black as events of that day returned to their recollection.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dixie McCall stretched languidly on her raft just soaking in the southern Californian sunshine. ::It's just been far...too... long.::she sighed, listening to the birds nearby playing in her apartment complex's birdbath. Max, the caretaker's cat, seemed to agree with her, stretching a single paw down from his perch on the poolside lifeguard chair.

Children's laughter rang like belltones in her ears as she dozed under her sunhat and occasionally, the yips of the excited dogs watching the other tenants sharing the same pool, splashed and played on the sidelines. Sighing, Dixie let the sun fry out her aches,  
one by one. ::If I ever work another double shift like the one I had last night, may monkeys fly out of my butt.:: she thought. "Ohhh, I hate head colds." Dixie sniffed, ignoring yet another tickle running down her throat. She shifted on her inflatable, easing a sudden gut cramp.  
The tired nurse let the noonish summer's day work its magic, and ignored it. "Guess what, Kel?" she mumbled to herself, still quite alone on her side of the pool. "I'm cancelling dinner plans. This day is gonna be just ..for......ZZzzzzz...zzz.."

The lulling waves returned her to a state of blissful somnolence.

Dixie didn't know how long she had drifted, when an uneasy pup's whine sliced through her dreams. McCall made a face.

Then the kids started screaming. Dixie shot up onto her hands, blinking in the torrid sun's glare, her eyes tearing. She cast her head about towards the frightened children, shouting in alarm. "What's the problem here?!"

One petrified boy pointed to someplace behind Dixie. McCall turned.  
One of the Miller dogs was still whining, standing rigid on a second floating rubber raft, looking at something down under the water.

Dixie saw a wavering form shimmer, sprouting legs and motionless, drifting arms.

"Mr. Miller!" she gasped, twisting off the raft. Dixie swam as fast as she could across the pool, shouting as she went, "Call the Fire Department Rescue Squad! My patio door's open!"  
she told the children. One of the oldest started running for the phone.

Dixie plunged into the pool's depths, opening her eyes. It was deep at that end and Gerald Miller was no tiny teenager when she finally reached him and started hauling his spasming lanky body to the surface. She kicked through a plume of red.  
::He's hit his head?:: McCall analyzed.

The side cramp biting her earlier made a comeback. Dixie grunted bubbles, cursing. But then her hand caught the edge of the pool's rim and her chin broke into the air. The stench of chlorine poured into Dixie's stuffy nose and she opened her mouth,  
spitting out luke warm water.

"Is my brother ok?" asked a tiny blond girl in active horror.

Dixie threw an arm over Ger's shoulder and rolled his slack face out of the water, taking care to not jar his spine. The teenager was unconscious now and he fountained water out his nose and mouth when she turned him. ::Drowning.:: she thought. Holding him still, the nurse beckoned to the kids.  
"Push something over to me!" she ordered, treading water. "I need a support surface to lie him on. Even a lounger will work."

But the chairs along the sunning area were chained to the fence.  
Dixie swore. "There! Use that." and she jerked her head towards the blue raft from which the frantic dog was barking.

Two young boys leaped in and shoved it close.

Dixie managed to get it floating perpendicular under Ger's chest with his head splinted level in both her hands.  
She didn't bother to drain him further and started right in with a breath attempt. Ger gurgled, but his chest rose.

McCall's fingers found the groove in his neck.  
::Sh*t. His pulse's almost gone.:: Dixie kept holding the teenager's head in alignment around her jaw thrust.  
She lifted rushing eyes to the panicking children surrounding her."Kids, we gotta get him out. Now. Remember how to do that? Like I showed ya in kidscouts.. We're gonna make a ramp out of the pump pipe cover by the shed. All right?  
Go get it! I gotta keep helping him." she said, blowing another breath through the suffocating man's chest water.

Ger's color had grayed before her eyes by the time they got back. "No, Ger. Keep fighting!" Dixie hissed into his ear as she pushed air into his lungs.

The oldest boy ran back outside."The operator said that they're on their way! I got through!"

"Terrific.." McCall grinned up at him.  
She used the other children swimming around her to keep Miller's head and back unjostled.

Between the five of them, the slippery teen slid off the long piece of plastic onto the deck quickly. "Watch his head. Don't move his neck around..." Dixie told the older ones.

"He's bleeding!" cried the youngest.

"It's not real bad. Head cuts are just messy." Dixie said automatically.

"His neck beat's gone! His neck beat's gone!" shouted Ger's brother, knowing enough to check.

"I know. He's just gone out. Don't be scared. Now. He'll need that CPR stuff I taught you all, so girls, dry him off your beach towels,  
especially around his chest. Then nest them about him to soak up all of this water." Dixie said rapidly, thinking ahead for future defibrillating.

Hauling on a rope of floats, McCall flung herself out of the pool. She scrambled over to the teen's head and reopened an airway by lifting his jaw bone. "Michael, now take over here. Hold his chin just like this when you give your breaths, ok? Move nothing else. I'll start here." Dixie told the boy, beginning compressions. "Don't be alarmed if water squirts out after a bit. Let it come. The more of it, the better."

Dixie's cramp was a vice now, and her nose ran, so she lifted one leg and crouched on her right foot to ease it. Already,  
McCall was sweating and beads of it stung her eyes. She glanced up as Ger's brother delivered another breath mouth to nose. "That's fine, Mike. Give those a little deeper. Keep going. Good job." McCall panted, keeping up her CPR.

After each pulse check, Dixie lifted her head toward the veranda's main gate listening acutely for the sound of sirens.

Dixie McCall reached down yet again to the drowned teenager's throat after another long minute. Her chilled fingers found a thready carotid. "Michael! Trade places with me. He's got a pulse.  
Hold his head still, in between your knees, as I keep ventilating him." she requested, keeping in line stabilization with her hold on his airway. "Keep talking to him, hon. He's in trouble but he can still hear us."

Stuttering nervously, Michael leaned down to his brother's ear.  
"Ger. I promise I won't tell anyone what you did in the house.  
Just wake up, ok? Dad's gonna be so mad you jumped head first into the shallow end like we're not supposed to."

McCall looked up at the nine year old, about to ask him what that house comment had meant, when the wail of sirens and squealing tires heralded a paramedic squad's arrival.

It was 51's.

"Johnny! Roy! Non-breathing, but with a pulse now!  
He was under, I'm guessing,.. less than two minutes."

DeSoto and Gage flew into the yard, 02 tank clattering, with a police officer in tow, lugging the defibrillator and a backboard.

"Officer, set those by his head." Johnny ordered. Then he wrapped a thick cervical collar around Ger's neck without getting in the way of Dixie's mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Roy moved immediately to kick the drying blankets the children had used out of the way. "Dixie? We thought the address was familiar."

"Sorry for scaring you fellas but this was pressing.." she replied,  
delivering another breath to the boy carefully.

Johnny felt the teen's distended stomach. "This getting in the way?"

"More and more."

Gage got busy setting up the demand valve to take over for the nearly exhausted nurse.

Roy finished hooking up the EKG monitor and he put the defibrillator on charged standby. Then he set up the biophone's antennae and began a hail. "Rampart, this is Rescue 5..1.."

##Go ahead, 51## answered Brackett over the line.

"Rampart, we have a male approximately fourteen years of age. Victim of an apparent diving accident."

Dix waggled her head in agreement at Roy's guess at mechanism of injury as she accepted the positive pressure mask from Gage and began using it.

Johnny flung open the I.V. box and grabbed out what he needed rapidly.

Roy continued his report. "...He's been under active resuscitation, non-breathing now, but with a regained pulse following CPR. He's on 15 liters of assisted O2.  
Spinal precautions have been taken. Please stand by for the vital signs." He set the phone onto his shoulder as he tore pieces of IV tape off a dispenser to stick in rows onto his leg.

##Standing by, 51.##

McCall rattled off Ger's pulse and its quality, and his consciousness level."120 and thready. No reaction to pain. Pupils, reactive, but sluggish."

DeSoto nodded, getting a quick B/P while Johnny did a rapid head to toe survey after listening to the boy's breath sounds via scope. "I'm getting rales bilaterally." he said.

"He took in a lot of water.." Dixie confirmed catching her breath back as she used the ventilator on their patient.

Gage went on. "Negative Babinski's." he said after he ran a pair of forceps points up the bottom's of both of the teenager's feet.

Dixie sighed in relief. "One point in his favor.."

Gage rewrapped the stethoscope around his neck. He peered at the blood oozing from the boy's temple.  
"This looks minor. There's no depression." Then he looked for cerebral spinal fluid out the ears and nose.  
"No CSF, Roy."

"Ok, Johnny. Better call out for the engine. His B/P's sixty over P."

Gage jerked his head in affirmation and grabbed his walkie talkie. "L.A., This is Squad 51."

##Squad 51.##

"Respond Engine 51 for medical assistance to our location."

## 10-4, Squad 51. Time out, 12:51.##

Everyone ignored the broadcast tones over the frequency, double echoed through the squad's Motorola Converta-com and the HT as Captain Stanley acknowledged the run and gave an ETA.

Dixie felt a wave of fatigue. "Johnny, I'm tired." she shivered. "I gotta give it up."

"All right." Gage said, eyeing her up, a little self conscious because of Dixie's skimpy made-for-the-sun, two piece bikini. "Rescuing's hard work. Why don't you..uh,, wrap up, sit down and rest a while. We got it."

The motorcop smoothly took over teenager's mechanical ventilations.

Dixie barely felt the kids throw a flannel quilt over her shoulders, offering her their gratitude with timid pats and hugs as she parked on a lounger by the edge of the swimming pool. McCall shook her head, thinking out loud. Then she snapped her fingers. " Amy Miller, can you go get that consent form your mother's got hanging on the frig? These firemen are gonna need it to give Ger some medication."

"Ok, Dixie. I'll be right back, Ger!" cried the tiny child before she ran off.

DeSoto got his first orders.

##51, Start an I.V. Normal Saline with an insulin drip. I'm gonna assume he was coding longer than two minutes. I want to terminate any catecholamine release effects before they complicate things for us.  
Go ahead and administer 1.0 mg Lidocaine IV push to control any intracranial pressure he might have from that possible head injury. Prepare to insert an esophageal airway and send me a strip. Add 1 mg Sodium Bicarb,  
then turn his drip to TKO. Let me know when you've secured your airway. ##

"10-4, Rampart. I.V. Normal Saline with insulin, Lidocaine and Sodium Bicarb. This'll be lead 2."

The reassuring sound of the Ward Pumper's deeper siren grew then fell away with the bark of her airhorn.

##L.A. Engine 51's on scene.## came Stoker's transmission.

##10-4, Engine 51. Time is 12:55.## replied L.A. Dispatch.

The pool kids, except Michael, went running to fetch the other firemen to show them the way.

Roy lifted his HT. "Cap, we'll need all hands and the spare O2. Active resus."

##10-4, HT 51.##

Ger suddenly started to seize and his stomach rippled.

Gage startled. "Is he vomiting?" he asked the police man, with his hands full of supplies.

"No, there's nothing here yet. ....But.."

"But what?" Roy asked, impatient.

"I..don't think I'm getting a chest rise anymore.." the officer admitted. "Just started happening."

"D*mn!" Johnny swore, feeling Gerald's throat for the beat and double checking the jaw lift. "Try another vent again."

The cop triggered the thumb button. Despite a tight seal over skin, the demand valve failed to accomplish a finished breath. The officer shook his head. "See? Just like I told ya."

Johnny flew into action. "Roy, ask for a nasogastric tube. He's really blocked and in a convulsion from hypoxia. His gums are blue. I wanna drain that distension now."

Roy hurried and updated Dr. Brackett about the new developments.

## I confirm rising tachycardia on the scope, 51.  
Relieve that intragastric pressure with an NG tube and watch for signs of an obstructed airway#  
Kel snapped crisply.

Working together, Roy and Johnny inserted a well lubricated catheter into the teen's unbloodied nostril and got it down past a sudden odd resistance.  
Frothy pink emesis welled out of the tube's end and onto the concrete in a noisy involuntary belch. Then Ger's bulging stomach fell flatter than it had been.

"Ok, try him now." Gage told the policeman as he quickly drew the tube back out again and suctioned out the boy's nose and mouth. Difficult breaths went in.

Stoker, Chet and Lopez immediately knew what to do at a mere glance of the area. They shifted the backboard until it lay flush with Ger's back as Johnny and Roy log rolled him onto his side for more active suctioning. Swiftly, the head block, chest, waist and leg straps were settled and tightened into place.

Leaning down, Johnny examined the stain on the pavement.  
It was sweet smelling. "Roy, he's been drinking...." he said flatly, not happy.

DeSoto's face tightened. "He's just a kid."

"I know."

Roy picked up the phone again. "Rampart, we've positive evidence of ETOH ingestion."

Brackett returned a long sigh of resignation and sadness. ##10-4, Roy. Then we're all the better for that insulin drip counteracting things."

Roy had the advanced airway prepped and gelled. "I'm gonna need one of you for a Sellick's maneuver."  
he told the gang.

"Me." Marco volunteered and he peeled off his coat and gloves and kneeled down.

DeSoto had foregone the EOA for an endotracheal tube.  
"Stoker, why don't you take over on the O2? Thanks,  
Officer Palmer.." he read from the man's name tag.

"No problem." The officer stood back to begin his incident report, allowing the more experienced firefighter engineer to take over the task.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hank noticed Dixie McCall bundled up on her chair.  
"So much for the day off, eh?" he grinned for her benefit.  
"Nothing like a little excitement to liven up an afternoon."

Dixie just coughed at Stanley's encouraging humor while avoiding the bright sun beating down on her from his direction.

She felt a glove on her shoulder that made her jump.

"You ok there, Dixie?" Cap asked. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Dixie afforded the helmeted captain a smile.  
"I'm fine. Just a little worried."

"About what?"

"About him." she gestured with her head.  
"If we can't get that airway in......"

----------------------------------------------------------

A weak, choking jolt upset Roy's positioned laryngoscope and the paramedic yanked it out to prevent a sudden mouth injury. "Marco, keep up that cricoid pressure, whatever you do. Johnny!"

"I'm on it! Rampart, our victim's seizures are worsening.  
So's his color."

##Have you established that ET tube yet?##

"That's negative, doc. We're experiencing some jaw clenching." Johnny sighed in frustration.

##Knock him out, 51, for a rapid sequence induction.  
Point one mg's of Vecuronium IV push. That'll paralyze him enough for you to get one inserted. Know that you'll be completely responsible afterwards for maintaining his airway with adequate ventilations.##

Roy, next to Johnny, gulped.

"10-- uh, 10-4, Rampart." Gage affirmed. "RSI with .1 mg's Vecuronium IVP."

Stoker spoke up suddenly. "Gage! Laryngospasm!  
I'm getting in nothing now."

"What?!" Johnny felt around Marco's Sellick hold.  
He felt a foreboding rock stiff hardness surrounding Ger's adam's apple. "Roy, ...positive on that.  
Obstruction's total!"

"Rampart, standby... We've a fully obstructed airway."  
DeSoto dropped the phone.

##Push the Vecuronium, now! Double it if you have to#  
commanded Kel. ## The increase may help your clearing attempts..##

Johnny straddled the dripping immobilized teen while Kelly hastily undid just the abdominal straps of the longboard,  
allowing Gage access to Ger's lower abdomen. The paramedic delivered four sharp upward thrusts under the teenager's diaphragm with both hands while Stoker and Chet pinned the boy's head and neck still.

Roy sent the muscle paralyzer into Ger's high flowing I.V.  
and hung it dangling on the fence. "It's in. Is it working?"  
he looked to Mike Stoker.

The engineer shook his head and demonstrated the 02 gushing out around the mask quickly with some triggering.

Johnny tried a few more abdominal thrusts. Then he scrambled to Ger's head with a long shafted pair of Magil forceps in his teeth. He used a jaw screw to open the shaking teen's mouth to get at the deeper part of his throat. The lengthy, scissors like instrument was guided down, but stopped short only along half its usable length.  
Gage grimaced as he probed, biting onto a pen light so he could see what he was doing. "There's nothing here, Roy. I'm not seeing any vocal cords. It's gotta be just a laryngospasm. These aren't threading down."  
he said of his Magil forceps.

DeSoto nodded, licking dry lips. "Second dose then,  
ready?"

Gage nodded, backing off so Stoker could use the demand valve yet again.

Roy injected a small orange labelled syringe into the rubber intravenous delivery port deftly. "It's in!"

Stoker and Johnny struggled to offset the teenager's cyanosis with some chest rise, but they were unsuccessful, no matter what they thought to try.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

In the base station, Brackett eyed the running EKG strip and became ansy. He had to force himself not to interrupt his hard-at-work men just for an update.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A dragging minute passed under the firemen's sweaty exertions. Then Stoker detected a relaxing jaw. "He's loose.." and then he started to force as many feebly reaching ventilations as he could into the boy's lungs. He kept it up until the ominous dark blue began to fade from Ger's face and lower extremities.

Johnny snatched up the abandoned endotracheal tube that Roy had left on the teenager's chest and said,  
"Hyperventilate him a minute more, Mike. Then move aside."

Stoker nodded.

Roy lifted the phone. "Rampart, our victim's still partially obstructed and we can't find what it is.  
The paralytic agent's beginning to work, but we're getting vents into him only with difficulty. Johnny's attempting another intubation. Both the boy's work of breathing and his seizures, are now absent." Roy reported, seeing a quiet, fully drugged stillness, settle over his patient.

Kel let out the breath he was holding. ##Avoid any stimulus that'll trigger V-fib. He's sensitive to that now.##

Gage accidently poked the back of Ger's soft palate with the ET tube as he was visualizing for his vocal cords.

Roy's head shot up when the EKG monitor warbled an arrythmia alarm. "Brady! Back off, Johnny!"

Gage froze and yanked out the tube, digging for a carotid artery in the boy's neck with his other hand.  
"...Stupid! ..I'm ...stupid...." he grunted.

DeSoto flew to the open drug case when the boy's cardiac rate continued to sink into the forties.  
"Rampart!"

## I see it, 51. Point five milligrams Atropine. Speed him back up again. What I'm seeing here, is vaso vagal in origin. It's not an adverse Vecuronium reaction.##

The betablocker soon boosted Ger's heartrate back up into the low, irregular seventies. Everyone sighed in relief.

## D/C trying the endotrach. I'm authorizing an immediate needle cricothyrotomy.## Brackett went on..

Gage tossed the ET tube aside.

##....Set up your supplies. Have your head man keep hyperventilating your victim as best he can. Roy,  
you've told me in the past that you've done one of these before ..in Nam. You've got the ball once again.##

"10-4, Rampart." Roy replied back, wiping sweat off his lip.

Johnny was a pure professional. He wasn't offended in the least for being asked to step down during a primary treatment action. He wanted a resolution to the problem too badly to even care. He un-papered an adapter to a 7.5 mm sized ET tube, a 10 ml syringe, and a 14 gauge needle catheter.

Reaching down, he slid a finger on a free hand over the hard thyroid cartilage running down the midline of Ger's throat until he found the soft depression of the cricoid membrane. "Ok,  
Marco. Keep his trachea from moving around and put one fingertip,.....here.." And he guided Marco's index finger to a precise spot on the teenager's sweaty skin. "Mark that landmark and don't lose it.."

"Believe me, I won't..." Lopez admitted eagerly.

"Ok, Roy. We're ready for you." Johnny said looking up, screwing together the puncture lancet."Lopez has got the trachea splinted." Then Gage handed the whole rigging over to his much calmer partner.

DeSoto spoke. "Johnny, could you draw up a mil of water into the syringe for me, please? I gotta trick I like to use."

Johnny nodded. "Stoker, is he adequately oxygenated yet?"  
he said, filling Roy's needle with a pull of its plunger into another unused, sterile IV bag.

"As best as he's able. His pupils are still reacting but he's a little too cold now to judge by his color."

Gage fitted the syringe back into place into the guiding shaft, curious as to what purpose Roy was going to use it for. ::Not for med absorption into the lungs, Kel hasn't ordered any ET drugs yet.:: he thought.

DeSoto took over pressing a finger on the landmark Marco was guarding. Then he moved his fingertip just enough to place the point of the needle directly over the membrane he could feel. He angled the syringe, end down at a forty five towards Ger's feet, and advanced the needle into the skin, all the while aspirating the plunger upwards with his pinky and ring fingers. He stopped instantly when the upward welling suctioning drew up pearling air bubbles.  
He smiled. "I'm in the trachea.." he announced.

Roy slid a 3mm endo tube catheter inside the syringe and threaded it until it was well into the air passage below,  
angled downwards. He withdrew the long needle, passing it off to Cap to dispose of into the sharps bin.

Johnny flew into action once again. "Ah, now I see what the water was for.." he said, listening to the teen's chest as DeSoto fitted the ET adapter's syringe and catheter's end onto a high flow oxygen circulating ambu bag. "A better visual."

"Yep." DeSoto blinked.

Lopez helped Roy tape the inserted tenuous airway to Ger's throat amply and then he took sole charge of stabilizing it with both hands so that it didn't budge a single centimeter out of place.

"You're pure cement, Marco." Gage ordered.

"Solid, man. This is going nowhere." he said,  
watching Stoker rapidly make up for lost ventilating time. "How's he doing now?" the hispanic fireman asked, marveling at the heavy bag's ability to work through such a slender tube.

Johnny took the listening ports of the stethoscope out of his ears. "He's got minimal chest rise. But it's enough to keep him alive until we get to the hospital.  
Nice work, pal." he grinned. "Thanks everyone."

"Mike, I'll break you." Roy said. "I know just how to get the most inside without distension happening.  
It's a narrow band force of pressure with this sized catheter.  
It's just like a newborn's.."

"I'll learn it for next time.." said Stoker as he traded places with DeSoto.

Johnny picked up the phone. "Rampart, we have an airway.."

##Congratulations, guys. Now get him in here. I want a vitals set every five minutes in route. Keep vigilant for good or bad lung sounds, any sign of expanding hematomas, or subcutaneous air under the skin. ##

"10-4. We're on our way, Rampart. The ambulance has just arrived.." Gage said with a smile.

That smile fell away when Dixie McCall suddenly sagged backwards from where she was seated out of her blanket.  
She tumbled limply into the pool when Hank Stanley failed to catch her in time. "Dixie?!" Johnny yelled.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Cap started to get out of his turnout and helmet to go after her when Gage shouted. "I got her!" He swan dived into the shallows.

Very quickly, Dixie McCall was conveyed to the surface and to the edge by many hands. She was lifted up, set onto the ground and rolled onto her back.

"Dix?" Johnny shook her firmly, monitoring her carotid.  
He wiped streaming water away from her nose and mouth as she began coughing and moaning.

McCall was almost as white as her alabaster swimsuit.

"She's ok.." Gage told the others. Stoker jogged over with the engine's O2 apparatus. "I think this's just an episode of syncope, she's waking up already." he said. "Let's move her to one of those chairs and get her wrapped up before you start her on that Mike."

Roy looked up from where he and Marco were still watching and working on Ger. "Johnny?! What's the problem?"

"I don't know yet!" he shouted, letting Stoker, Cap and Kelly transfer Dixie from the concrete to a head raised sunchair. "Let me check her out."  
he coughed. "Keep packaging him for transport.  
I'll call a second ambulance for her if I have to."

Cap reaffirmed Johnny's plan, setting an oxygen mask over McCall's nose and mouth. "That's gonna be the call." He waved on Stoker to notify L.A. of their need for an additional Mayfair or Cadillac. "I don't like her breathing rate. It's labored."

"Umm hmm, something's definitely going on here.."  
Johnny agreed. "Dix, can you hear me?"

She didn't answer past a few groans.

Chet Kelly continued to try to get a legible verbal response out of the nurse while Johnny got a B/P off her arm.

The children were scared but they stayed out of the way, remaining maturely silent.

Gage saw that Roy was ready to go. "You keep the biophone."

"She stable?"

"Yeah. Her B/P's no longer low. Take Marco with you for that airway support. Kelly can follow me in the squad later after the other ambulance gets here."

Roy was a bulldog. "Use a landline, ok? The kids can bring out a phone to you for you to use for her." DeSoto said, shuffling along behind the gurney leading attendants,  
carrying the defibrillator and the drug box.

"I know. I know.. Just go already. The sooner you leave,  
the sooner I'll find out some answers on her. Don't worry...I'll contact ya on HT as soon as I find out anything."  
Gage grumbled.

"No, I'll do that.." Cap promised.

"All right." Roy replied, waving the ambulance men on again. "I'm going..."

Johnny paid no more attention to him as Ger was carted off Code Three to Rampart Hospital.

-  
Cap and Johnny turned back from watching Roy hustle away to find Chet inexplicably armed with a mug of steaming coffee, which he was waving underneath Dixie's nose near the O2 mask on blow by so that she could smell it.

Dixie sputtered, shifting her head from side to side.

"Kelly, cut that out this instant!" Hank boomed.

Gage gave out an exasperated shout of mild disgust and he grabbed the cup away from Kelly. "Chet, would you knock it off!? Where did you get such a crazy idea in the first place?!" he demanded, gently replacing the mask as McCall's eyes fluttered open.

"From them.." Chet shrugged.

"Yeah," said the oldest child standing nearby. "It was my idea.  
We do this coffee trick all the time when Miss McCall won't wake up after sunbathing. She told us to so she wouldn't ever be late for work."

"Well kids, I hate to break it to ya, but today is Dixie's DAY ..OFF!  
Thanks for all your help. We got it from here. Now, sCRAMMM!"  
Gage exploded.

The children, all three dogs,..and the caretaker's cat, took fright and all of them ran away as fast as they could with screams, barks and a yowl.

"That wasn't very smart." Hank interjected when the noise died away.

"Huh?" Gage double taked. "Why not? They're out of our hair..Unlike some people.." he glared at Chet.

"We don't have our outside phone yet, you twit." Cap said, smacking Johnny lightly on the back of the head for emphasis on the word, "twit."

"I'll get it." said Stoker. "I think I remember a phone being in the pool party hut from last year. It most likely has a cord on it long enough to reach us.."

Johnny didn't even hear him. "I'm not the twit. Chet's the twit.. Geesh,  
Cap. Think about it. Reviving someone with coffee fumes? Now I've seen it all." He kept glaring at Kelly. "Just what were you thinking?"  
he asked Chet sarcastically.

"It worked, didn't it? She's almost speaking." Chet countered.  
"At least java's kinder on the old nostrils than an ammonia capsule.  
I should know. You've used enough of em on me as the Phantom in the middle of the night when I was still sleeping..."

Hank just rolled his eyes and asked L.A. for the ETA on Dixie's ambulance.

"No...ambulance.." coughed Dixie, sitting a little straighter in her chair. A flush of growing embarrassment was staining her cheeks and erasing all of her remaining questionable clinical signs red tagging problems. "I'm......fine, fellas. Really!" she protested, peeling off her oxygen firmly. 'I'm awake, I'm aware.. I know who I am, where I am and what happened....I'm not going anywhere.." she hissed with a little of her normal heavy guns tone. "If I see that hospital one more time this week, I'll rip all my hair out for sure.." she promised.

Johnny tossed his paramedic's notepad that he had been writing in over a shoulder and threw his hands up, rubbing his face in exasperation. "I don't believe this is happening, Cap.." he whined.  
"We gotta get her t--"

Hank held up his palms. "Now, Gage, you know the law as well as I do. The little lady's obviously fully cognizant enough, legally, to decide what's best for hers----"

"Little lady?!" Dixie fumed.

Hank shrank in his overcoat. "Sorry. Poor choice of words? To me,  
everybody's little." commented the lanky fire captain sheepishly.  
"I apologize if I offended you but the important thing right now is finding out whether or not you're really ok. We can hash over how this is being handled afterwards, all right?"

Dixie drew up a glare. "Cancel that Mayfair, Hank. I have a cold.  
That's all." she said dangerously.

Cap felt the back of his neck smoking from the strength of her ire. "Ok.. canceling. ." he said reasonably and fully respectful of her wish to end the medical call. "Gage, she's allllll yoourrsss."

"Thanks, Cap.." Johnny was thrilled. Not.

"Kelly," Cap barked. "...let's give them a little earshot distance.  
Come on, pal.."

"Aww, Cap. I wanna stay and help out.." Chet whined.

"Now, Chet!" Stanley snapped.

"...coming..." Kelly peeped.

The two firemen packed up the O2 and turned for the direction of the Ward just as Mike Stoker came panting up with the private phone rigged onto a bright orange extension cord. "I got it.  
Hang on while I dial o--"

Stanley didn't even bother to turn around. "Jolly well. The gang's all here. Now put it back. I guess she's a refusal, Stoker."

"What?"

"Is there something wrong with your ears or mine, Mike." Cap snarled.

"Mine, Cap." Stoker bellied up.

"Fine. Clean up this mess around here and cancel the second ambulance while you're at it." He began to tromp away. "Oh,"  
he said, retracing his tracks. "You're deaf to those two for the next minute or so.." he said tossing a hand at Dixie and Gage.

"I sure will be.." chirped Stoker, recognizing a pending bit of paramedic hardball to come when he saw it. He stooped only long enough to use a water puddle to wash off some blood after he had policed the area free of medical run fallout. Then he was gone, with Cap being his bigger shadow.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gage willfully stopped drumming his frustrated fingernails on the arm of Dixie's poolside chair. He laced his hands together in an unconvincing show of amenability. "Ok.." he smiled, falsely fake.  
"Now where were we?" he purred, ..tightly.

"Talking about how normal I am right now.." Dixie said, crossing her arms together.

"I wouldn't call keeling over backwards into a swimming pool in a dead faint, quite normal, Dixie. Quite the opposite."  
he growled.

"Look..." Dixie purred, just as deadly serious. "I just got done with twenty five solid minutes of aggressive, rapid CPR."  
Would you still be normal after doing that?" she fired back at him.

Johnny gaped like a fish, then he pursed his lips, scratching his head. "Well...." he admitted, his voice sliding up a few notes on a scale. 'I-- uh, I'll give you that...... particular point."

"Good! Then go away cause I'm telling you, I'm perfectly--"  
Dixie sneezed and immediately, she gasped, grabbing her stomach.

"Oh, really?" Gage moved in for the kill. "That was normal,  
eh?.. Come on, Dix. Let me see your stomach!" Johnny said,  
reaching out for palpating check.

McCall whipped up the blanket to her chin, deflecting Johnny's hands as she resumed her angry stare.  
"Touch me, and I swear I'll bite your hand off!  
Today is gonna be all MINE!" she yelled, barely keeping it below a quiet roar.

-  
"Is there a problem here?" came an authoritative voice.

Both the battling Dixie and Gage looked up, kinda startled for a moment. They had forgotten about the cop being there. And his report.

"No..no.."  
"Nope. Not at all." they both stuttered.

"We're through.." said Dixie firmly. Johnny said the same words, meekly obedient. "We're through,  
officer.. uh,...I guess.."

"Okay, then you wouldn't mind if I go over a few details with Miss McCall here about the Miller boy.  
That's if.. you found that she's still medically ABLE to.."  
the police officer hinted.

"I AM." Dixie punctuated, dismissing Johnny with a wave.

Johnny cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Go right ahead, officer." Gage postured, backing away and wrapping up his stethoscope.

He fired off one last glare at her when the cop wasn't looking.  
"You call us back if ANY of those symptoms return. Understood?!"  
he hissed, stabbing down a finger at the air. That gesture immediately turned into a farewell wave when the police man glanced up at Johnny with a disapproving raised eyebrow.

Dixie celebrated. "Mother's keeper.." And then she stuck out her tongue at him. "In...your....dreams..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, having chalked up one save and another one as unresolved,  
Station 51 tucked their tails back between their legs and left the neighborhood. The engine returned to base as unavailable and the squad remained 10-7 to Rampart until everyone was freed up from their mutual responsibilities.

Gage continued to pore over Dixie's symptoms.

"Maybe I should let one of the docs know about her." he mumbled to Chet on the way back.

"I wouldn't if I were you. You still have to WORK with Dixie later on,  
man. Do you really want to face her once she's over that cold of hers?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an hour later, not long after the Miller boy had been stabilized cardiac wise from respiratory acidosis. He had gone on to Broncoscopy for a thorough check on the extent of the alveoli damage that he sustained from his aspiration of chlorinated pool water into both his lungs.

Kel was very happy with the teenager's labwork, C spine and chest x-ray films. He was being kept under the paralytic agent to thwart another surprise occurance of intubation laryngospasm. The boy had been reunited with his family and things looked good on the EEG. Dr. Brackett was almost certain that no brain damage took place while he had been arrested. ::Helps that someone was there to work on his resuscitation so quickly.:: he theorized. ::My gut feeling on his neurological status will just be confirmed when he wakes up tomorrow morning.::

That line of thinking reminded Kel yet again of his short,  
revealing conversation with Roy DeSoto about Dixie McCall.

The four firemen from 51's had gone back to the station as soon as they were freed from the Miller kid's care and paperwork,  
jammed together in the rescue squad. He had wished that he could've talked to Johnny Gage directly about his head nurse's symptomatic findings, but he had been too tied up with his teenaged patient's surgical intubation procedure.

Kelly Brackett excused himself from the Emergency Department floor, letting Carol know that he'd be in his office for a few minutes.  
His simple nod and gesture toward its ornately polished dark oaken door guaranteed that Carol would indeed notify him the moment another patient case announced itself either by paramedic biophone or via the waiting room.

The babble of hospital activity was mercifully muffled when he shut the door behind himself. Kel Brackett immediately went to the olive green phone on the desk.

His fingers danced over a familar sequence of numbers on the rotary dial and he impatiently sat through four telephone rings before he finally heard a sleepy voice pick up. "Dix?  
It's Kel." he began. "Talk to me."

He heard a tired groan on the other end of the line followed by a tight cough and a rustling of blankets when McCall's gravelly voice finally addressed him. "...hmm. Kel? For Pete's sake, what time is it?"

"Time for your attending physician to get some answers pronto."  
he said firmly. "Just what were you thinking when you sent the paramedics away following your little stunt nose diving into your apartment complex's swimming pool?"

In a point assuredly in her favor in Dr. Brackett's book, Dixie McCall immediately got angry. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hang up on you right now, Kel Brackett. I was sleeping soundly for the first time in..."

"Roy DeSoto. He was worried enough about you to let me know what had happened to you in the Treatment Room after your neighbor was brought in." Brackett fired back.

"That b*st*rd!" and there was a silence on the other end of the phone.  
" Whatever happened to patient/paramedic confidentiality?! I didn't know Johnny Gage was such an irritating example of a gossiping SOB!"

"Pipe down! He only did his job like any paramedic worth his salt should've done. He notified his attending medical director of a potential medical problem. The fact that he did it through his partner's a moot point and you know it."

Dixie quieted down, thinking of her unexpected rescue victim. "How's Ger doing?" she asked, sitting up in bed, smothering up a wince so it wouldn't be apparent vocally.

The lamp turning on in her darkened bedroom did more than just stab into her eyes.  
It brought on the mother of all headaches and a wave of unexpected deep nausea which the nurse fought down by putting a hand to her mouth.

She bore through Kel's ire bravely.

"I'll get to Gerald Miller as soon as I know that YOU'RE all right. If you were symptomatic enough to red flag Roy and Johnny, you automatically red flag me. So again, I say, talk to me.." he said no nonsense.

Dixie sighed, pulling a waste can full of used tissue and half eaten cough drops into her lap. "There isn't much to say, Kel. What's so unusual about having a stomach virus?"

"When did that come on?"

"Yesterday morning at work."

"What are your symptoms and vital signs?"

"Oh come off it, Kel. Quit being a mother hen. I'm not a hypochondriac to take notes on every little incidence of the sniffles."

"Humor me."

"Kel....no." she spat tightly. "This is my day off, and it's gonna stay that way.  
We're not going to be getting together over dinner tonight. No police officer's gonna stop by for more details on Ger's drowning. And no pesky off duty paramedic is gonna come calling to my front door. Nada. End of story.  
I know my rights as an ex-emergency medical patient."

"What about my rights as your closest friend? Does that matter any?  
Forget about my white coat, Dix. That and my stethoscope are still hanging up on the hat rack across the room!" he boomed.

McCall sighed, resting her head onto her bare knees. "I'm sorry, Kel.  
I get cranky with colds. When I get them.." she bemoaned.

"Oh, so now you're telling me that you've got a cold and not a stomach bug. Which is it?"

"I don't know.. and I don't care. All I want is twenty four hours uninterrupted down time as is due me on my off day. Is that such an unreasonable request?  
The fact that Ger Miller's accident interceded has absolutely no bearing on the issue!"

"You're right, Dix. It doesn't." Kel agreed rapidly, toning down the frustration in his voice. "And thank you for being there. He's gonna make it with flying colors.."

"Paralysis?"

"None. His films are clear."

"Coma?"

"There're no signs. You guys were absolutely amazing with keeping him one hundred percent oxygenated. Just be grateful to Brantigan and Grow for Roy's military needle cric technique that he so kindly shared with me during the last paramedics meeting. Miller's already been decannulated and there's no indication of any subglottic stenosis at all. Now enough about him."

"Kel, read my lips, or at least listen to them. Go away. I'm fine. I'll call you after sundown in an update. Just keep Johnny and Roy outta my hair tonight and I'll think about staying your best friend. Good night or good afternoon and good riddance!" and she slammed her elegant white and gold Victorian phone receiver down and cut off the connection.

Kel Brackett winced at the vigorous slam of noise into his ear. He held the phone in his palm for a few seconds, half considering calling Dixie back again. :: Do I have the right to bother her any more? She sounds like she knows what she's doing. And I'll get my second phone call in five hours.:: he thought, looking at his watch.

McCall barely made it to the bathroom in time before vomiting and suffering a bout of miserable diarrhea. "Oh, god I hate the flu bug.."  
she groaned. Long minutes later, wet from the shower and naked,  
Dixie crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over her head.

Making a decision, Dr. Brackett decided candor was the better part of valor and he dialed the number out to Station 51.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Los Angeles County Fire Department, this is Fireman Mike Stoker.  
Can I help you?" Mike glanced up, "Gage. It's for you. It's Brackett."

"It is?" he said, his mouth full of burger. "It's about time I heard from him. Roy, did I ever tell you I love you for spilling the beans about Dix's little fainting stunt to him?"

"No. But I think you can refrain from expressing yourself. Joanne might get a little jealous." DeSoto quipped.

Johnny jogged to the phone, dodging around all the gangs' shoulders in his hurry to cut physical corners to reach the doctor. "Dr. Brackett?  
Johnny Gage."

"Gage. I talked with her."

"And?"

"And...there's nothing more I can do at the moment. She's adamant about refusing to see me or any other doctor for her illness."

"That's sheer craziness, doc." Johnny said, spitting out his mouthful of burger into a napkin. "She's gotta be seen sometime. You weren't there.  
I was. She was paler than anything once I rolled her face out of the water."

"Did she breathe any of that in?"

"No. She woke up too fast for that."

"Did her BP stay bottomed out?"

"No. It got back up into the low hundreds."

"And that was sitting up, right?"

"Yeah, doc. Look. Now you know as much as I do. So bottom line. Are ya gonna do anything about her?"

"I can't. Not by law."

"I'm going over there."

"No you aren't. You'll only get hauled off for trespassing. Dixie mentioned something to that effect."

Gage threw up his hands. "Wonderful. Now how are we gonna have any guarantees that she's all right?"

"I sort of got one."

"How...?" Gage asked sarcastically.

"She's gonna call me at sundown with an update."

"Fair enough. I'll call off Roy, too, from going over there only so long as we hear from you as soon as you hear from her."

"Consider that a promise."

"Thanks, doc."

"No problem. I'll hear from you next rescue call. I got the floor from lunch time through the rest of the night."

"Bye, Doctor Brackett. Talk to you then."

Johnny hung up the phone.

He wandered back over to his chair and sat down,  
ignoring the bowl of potato salad that Chet pushed over to his end of the table to cheer him up.

Cap inquired finally. "So, how's she doing? Is she gonna get checked out?"

"No."

Roy looked up from his lunch. "You're kidding."

"Wish I was, pally. Kel just made me promise that you and I won't stop by over there in between calls."

"On the strength of what guarantee?!" Chet whined.

"On the fact that Dixie's promised to keep phone tabs with him every couple of hours."

"And Kel Brackett bought that line of malarkey?" Cap sighed sarcastically.

"Yep." Johnny said, balling up his napkin and tossing it onto his plate in irritation.

Roy had some input. "You know, fellas, this could be a case of personal feelings getting in the way. Those two did date once you know. Maybe they're dating again. It could explain the doc's lack of medical bulldog tenacity because it concerns someone he truly cares about. He doesn't want to offend her."

"That's just stupid, Roy. If you were Dixie right now, being sick and all, stepping on eggshells is the last thing I'd be doing about you. I'd be busting down your door with a full med kit."  
Johnny interjected loudly.

"I don't think it'll come to that." DeSoto grinned reasonably.  
"After all, Dixie's a veteran registered nurse of twenty years.  
She'd never let an illness go on untreated if it were truly serious."

"I'm still not comfortable." Gage said, narrowing his eyes.

"Neither am I." said Chet, fully in agreement. "I think we should go around the both of them and let Joe Early in on this. No one will be held accountable if he's the one who suddenly shows up on Dixie's doorstep. He's gotta go over there tonight anyway."

"How so, Kelly?" Marco asked.

"To deliver a box of tickets for the Fireman's Annual Picnic Event. Dixie's one of the primary sellers this year since Gage didn't come forward and volunteer himself for it like he did for last year's."

"Why should I have? I'm a rotten seller." Johnny defended.

"Ummm hmm, but you're too good a paramedic not to meddle with a friend who might be in trouble and I'm too good a fireman to let someone burn themselves unnecessarily.  
I'm gonna go call Joe right now." he said, getting up. "Look, you two have done your job, and so has Dr. Brackett. It's now my turn to go to bat. Calling Joe'll only take a minute. Excuse me.  
And Gage, if you touch my burger, you're dead meat.."  
Chet warned as he dialed the phone without turning around.

The others laughed when Johnny snatched his creeping hand back into his lap.

Roy leaned over the table. "This sorta compromises the patient paramedic confidentiality thing. You feel good about Chet getting Dr. Early involved, Cap?"

"You bet your *ss I do. Somebody's gotta take a stand. Cause who's gonna watch out for Dixie's, if we don't?" Hank replied, biting into a potato chip.

-  
Dixie McCall awoke to a full darkness, broken only by the pale moonlight streaming in through the lacy curtains of her bedroom window. Her bleary fever dry eyes, made out the time on her nightstand clock. 00:38. She tried to move, in a reach for a half full, luke warm water glass, when the sharp belly pain doubled her up making her grab around both knees,  
in a surge of choking nausea.

"Owww..." she moaned. "Ok, enough's enough.." she grunted, half sobbing. She hugged herself under the blankets in suffering, burning agony. "I give up. I give in.  
I'm going to see a doctor. I promise....Just...just ease up and let me dress." she said to her stomach.

Her belly pain, had moved. It was now pinpointed, in a spot between her right hip bone and her navel.

She frowned, unable to make the significant connection with that new finding. Her mind was too muddled.

Dixie had pulled on pants over her pajama shorts and had snatched up her car keys from the dresser,  
when the pain toppled her onto the rug.

She lay there, curled in a ball, soundless, as wave after wave of pure agony swept over her. Her bedroom furniture and the moonlit ceiling blurred. "No, not gonna black out. Oh, boy. Kel's never gonna forgive me for trying to wait it out." she cried, leaking tears of misery.

Dixie crawled trembling fingers across the rug until they reached the phone cord trailing from the Victorian receiver on her nightstand. With a jerk, she pulled the phone down from the table. It clattered in a tangle of cord around her head. "...ohhh..hhh..." McCall moaned, dragging the phone and its hand held receiver to her face.

She dialed seven numbers, leaving the phone tipped over sideways, out to the only number she could remember entirely.

A male voice came on the other end of the line, questioning,  
and concerned, when Dixie didn't answer.

Dixie passed out close to the receiver, where her strained breathing could be heard clearly, in fevered distress.

The time was 00:51.

*  
From: "wone3" Date: Wed Oct 27, 2004 1:40 pm Subject: The Call out

The number Dixie remembered and dialed was Station 51 and she had been really lucky as the whole station was just returning from a vacant house fire with no injuries to be transported that had occupied all of them for the last hour or so.

Mike Stoker had just pulled the engine in place and raced to pick up the phone beating Captain Stanley to it.

He heard the distressed breathing on the other end and when he tried to get the person to talk, he received no answer from the other end. "Can you please tell me who you are? " he said into the phone.

Suddenly, Johnny realized that they hadn't heard anything about Dixie since being called out for the coaster incident. "Do you think it is her?" he said aloud. "Ask the person if it is Dixie." he said.

Mike called into the phone, "Dixie, Miss McCall is that you?" He heard a quiet groan on the other end.

Roy, who was right beside the receiver heard the groan, too, and grew concerned that it might be Dixie.

Roy called over to the Captain, "Cap, can you call us in a silent alarm for Dixie's place? We should go check it out to be sure. Could you also call over to the hospital? Doctors Brackett and Early will want to know what's going on, we promised to keep them in the loop as they promised us."

Cap reassured them that the docs would be called as he hurried to call the alarm into dispatch. "Dispatch this is Station 51, calling in a silent alarm for squad 51 to 213 Elm Street, Apartment 6."

Dispatch answered, ##10-4 . Squad 51, time out, 00:51.##

Captain answered, "10-4, KMG 365." He went over to the squad with the call slip as the guys were waiting in it. Marco ran over to open the bay door for the squad to exit.

Cap told the guys, "Be careful, but get there quickly. We'll make the call. If you need to take her in, you can stay available from the hospital. Call us once you find out anything though, OK?"

Both Johnny and Roy echoed, "We will, Cap, and thanks." They then sped out of the bay on a speed trip to Dixie's apartment.

*  
From: "Patti Keiper"

On the way, with lights and siren running, Roy DeSoto had a thought. "Johnny, do you think we'll need PD for this call? We might freak out a lot of Dixie's neighbors if we force our way into her place without alerting em ahead of time."

Johnny let out a big sigh, crumpling up the address slip.  
"It is the middle of the night, and you know how we need the police for most of our other calls like this. I'll raise em on the horn." said Gage with a nod. He lifted the mic,  
"L.A., this is Squad 51."

##Go ahead, 51.##

"Send out a squad car to our silent alarm's location. We may need official authorization for a break in." he said and then he hung up the microphone head onto its spigot.

##10-4, 51. LAPD says their ETA is fifteen minutes.##

"What?!" Johnny said in exclamation. "That's sheer craziness!  
What if Dixie's condition's serious? We can't wait that long just hanging about outside her patio...." he empathized out loud as he listened to L.A. notifiy a police patrol car about their medical emergency private home entry request.

Roy said. "If we can't see her in the window, that's what we're gonna haveta do, junior. A phone line with a history of heavy breathing doesn't mean a life or death situation."

"But it doesn't negate it either." Gage said, very unhappy,  
as he clunked a jacketted elbow down on the open edge of his passenger window. "You told me you and Stoker definitely heard a groan on that line."

"It IS near Halloween, Johnny."

"Yeah, but why would kids prank call a firehouse? Usually kids think we're really cool and...leave us alone." Gage said.

"I can think of half a dozen crank calls B shift's had over the last two months that started up just like this one."  
Roy just shrugged. "We'll have at least some answers in...." he looked at his watch in the glow of the bar lights reflecting off the squad's hood. "....four minutes....."

"I got a better idea....." Johnny said with a finger snap.

"What?" Roy asked, glancing away from the road.

Johnny picked up the radio mic again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Engine 51 roared off the freeway ramp and pulled up behind the squad in front of Dixie's apartment complex. The noise of her arriving Code Three woke up everyone within ear shot to a distance of two hundred yards.

"Is this your idea of a brilliant idea?" DeSoto asked Gage while they wound through the night clothed crowd of people,  
now milling about the pool area, fully loaded with gear.

"Yeah..." Johnny grinned. "Now we have witnesses..."  
"And Cap's just as concerned about that phone call as we are. He's not gonna yell. Not in the slightest."

"You're right about that." Roy considered. "It's not like it's a busy night for firehouse calls. Being available here or at the station's pretty much the same thing I guess."

"Exactly.." Johnny said.

As they neared apartment six, the gang piled out and went immediately to the front entryway to ring the doorbell while Roy and Johnny covered the back patio facing the moonlit pool to see what they could see.

Johnny upped his ante. "Would someone turn on the lights out here? We gotta see what we're doing!" he shouted to the babbling, gossiping crowd of residents around them.

The off hours overhead suddenly kicked on over the party hut at the far end of the pool, lighting their way through the thick palms and bushes surrounding Dixie's patio.

"Thank you!" shouted Roy. Then he mumbled. "Geesh,  
talk about an abundance of bystander help."

Johnny's HT came to life in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out. It was Cap. ##No answer at the front door at the bell or with the knocker. And we've no windows to look inside. How about on your end?##

"Still getting there. I wouldn't say Dixie's a premiere..."  
he grunted as he forced O2 tank and com box through the hedges.." gardening type. It's a sheer jungle over here, but we're getting there." Johnny told Hank.

"She does like her privacy.." Roy grinned.

Gage sighed and finally his shoes reached the concrete slab of her patio. "You know, there's another reason why I used the engine to wake everybody up."

"Why's that?" Roy asked as he, too, fought through the bushes to join his grinning partner on Dixie's back yard landing.

A commotion on the sidewalk of fast stepping slippers got their attention and a thick, hidden ivy covered gate that neither Roy nor Johnny knew was there, suddenly swung open onto the patio where they were, revealing a woman in a robe of quilted pastels with a thick ring of keys in her hand.

"That's why.." Gage pointed at her. "I figured one of these crowd folks just had to be the land lady.." Johnny said, tilting his head. "Dragging out the Ward, too, just bettered our chances in finding her.."

"Will wonders never cease.." Roy sighed with a half smile,  
pulling off his helmet. He quickly explained the situation to the land lady about Dixie McCall.

"Oh, sure.. Here, let me let you in. The poor dear. We all thought she was just tired from saving Gerald Miller. The kids saw her go back inside right after you fellas left."

Johnny was still peeking through the windows, shining his flashlight. He couldn't see anything. "Thanks, Ma'am, for coming. You see, the cops are delayed a bit. And this can't wait."

"No, of course it can't.." said the landlady. "Here you go boys.  
Can I come in? I'll be your entry witness.." she volunteered.

"That's what we had in mind, Ma'am.." Johnny said as the landlady opened the glass patio door with a flick of a long skeleton key.

Roy and Johnny immediately went inside, shouting Dixie's name. The landlady trailed behind and turned on the lights for them.

"She's not in here.." said Roy, leaving the bathroom.  
"Looks like she's been vomiting." he said about an unflushed toilet. "Some diarrhea, too." He flushed it away after Johnny had a look at it.

Johnny let in Cap and the others through the front door and quickly, the gang cased the living room, den,  
the closest bedroom....

Finally, they found her on the carpetting, face down with a phone receiver in her hand, in the farther one.

"Cap, we'll need an ambulance.." Roy said.

"You got it, pal. I'll be right back."

Johnny unwrapped the phone cord from around Dixie's body and hung up the phone into its cradle, setting the whole thing back on the nightstand while DeSoto knelt down, feeling for a carotid. "Dixie? Can you hear me?"

Together, he and Johnny gently rolled her over onto her left side from off of her stomach, supporting her head and neck in a line, carefully, leaving her legs bent up to her stomach as they checked to see if she was breathing. She was, shallowly.

Dixie just moaned at an arm pinch. "Altered level, Johnny.  
Marco," he asked looking up. "..can you get her on some O2?"

"Yeah."

"Make it high flow."

Hank returned after his HT call outside and crouched down, "Can we move her to the bed? It might make it easier for you two to work."

Johnny got done sweeping Dixie's head, neck and back for any blood or misalignment. "Yeah, I'm not finding anything here. She didn't hurt herself falling at least. Her c-spine's clear."

The gang lifted her to the bed with a sheet, leaving the others pulled down. She was placed onto her back and Roy and Johnny piled the gear around her after the O2 was set over her face.

Stoker thought ahead and placed pillows under Dixie's knees to keep them bent, remembering her unexpressed pain from earlier in the afternoon.

Cap began a hail out to Rampart while Johnny loosened Dixie's clothes and pants for breathing's sake and got an initial set of vital signs. "Chet, see if you can wake her past groaning.  
I don't know why she's not conscious yet. The oxygen should've helped her regain more awareness a full minute ago."

"That's if this is just another syncopal episode." DeSoto said as he got a blood pressure off of her. His expression changed into a more serious frown. "78/52. She's real warm, too."

"Sepsis?" Johnny guessed.

"Maybe. Check her abdomen. You remember what happened to her this afternoon better than I do." DeSoto admitted.

"Not really. She wasn't very revealing." But Johnny checked.  
He found mild rigidity in the lower right quadrant and he heard noisy bowel sounds through his stethoscope.

"Ok." Kelly began talking to McCall loudly. "Come on. Dixie,  
can you open your eyes for me? It's Chet Kelly from Station 51. We got your call ok. Everyone's here. Hey, open those gorgeous peepers of yours and say hello to your house guests.  
Millie the land lady's here, too. Johnny, hand me your penlight.  
I'll check out her pupils for you."

Gage tossed Chet his light. "What'dya got?"

Kelly reported a finding after a few seconds. "P.e.a.r.l."

"Figures." Johnny huffed in frustration. "Keep at it.  
We'll need her talkin to learn anything more."

"And... she's starting to flinch." Chet continued.

"That's a little better. Just don't kiss her. She may get mad at ya." Johnny said with volume, trying a bad joke to get any kind of a cognitive reaction out of the sick nurse.

"Why not? She's pretty enough.." Kelly quipped,  
going along, equally loud.

Dixie blinked and then she coughed. And then the pain returned, full blown. "Oh, guys. I ..thu you'd nev ...here.."  
she moaned, drawing her knees up even higher than the pillows. "Oh ..gaa ..make it sto-- p p.." she sobbed,  
with the emotions hardly reaching her features as much as it did in her voice.

"Dix?" Johnny asked, "Open your eyes.." he said,  
shaking her. "Tell us what's happening.." he ordered firmly.

She just made a non-sensical noise and shuddered in a fever chill.

Hank got a reply on the biophone. It was Dr. Morton.  
"Stand by, Rampart. I'll pass you off to one of the paramedics now. We've got a thirty two year old female with an acute abdomen, non traumatic." he informed. Then he mouthed the word "Morton" at his men when they looked up from getting a Normal Saline I.V. ready.

Roy took the phone. "Rampart. Our victim's semi-conscious.  
Non responsive to verbal commands. B/P's 78/52, Pulse's 90.  
Her respirations are 20 and shallow and both pupils are equal and reactive. There's no signs of falling injury but there is evidence of gastric and intestinal upset with a fever. We found mild guarding in her lower right quadrant. She's on fifteen liters of O2."

Morton nodded his head and then he pressed the talk button in the base station. ##Maintain her O2. Start an I.V., 51. Normal Saline. Administer a 250 to 500 cc's bolus and titrate until her pressure's at least 90 or better systolic. Then turn it TKO.  
Conduct a head to toe survey and get a better neurological assessment. Look for any abdominal distension or signs of pulsatile masses. Palpate her flank on the effected side for any CVA tenderness. Also, draw a red top for analysis. She's been vomiting and losing digestive material intestinally, so I'm gonna assume it's been a while since she's eaten anything. Give her some Dextrose at 50%. 25 gms in an I.V. push. Let's hope her stuporous state's due to hypoglycemia and that it isn't septic involvement. 100 mgs Thiamine won't hurt either. In fact, give her some. And get an oral temperature for me if you can, 51. Monitor her on EKG for any altered rhythm. Report back to me in two minutes with any new details. If not, transport her as soon as possible. ##

"10-4, I.V. Normal Saline titrated to the hemodynamic status margin minimum. A red top followed by 25 gms Dex50 I.V,  
and 100 mgs Thiamine. EKG check followed by a condition update and immediate transport."

Millie wanted to know. "What's all that stuff?"

Cap answered, "Salt water and sugar, with one of the B vitamins,  
a heartbeat reading, and then a fast ticket outta here."

"Huh...Whatever happened to the good ol smelling salts and patting the wrists routine? That worked fine in reviving folks awake in my day.." Millie interjected.

Johnny and Roy just smiled.

They got down to business re-examining Dixie for problems visually and by feel and found only a few bruises on her palms from the CPR she had given Ger and a few minor scrapes on her hips from when she dragged the boy out of the pool.

No masses or pulsations were found anywhere in her abdomen beyond the rigidity that was just starting to become apparent.

After they had given her a good once over and had connected Dixie to the heart monitor, they covered her up with a sheet for warmth.

A minute later, following the energizing Thiamine,  
all the sugar and the actively pushed fluid bolus, Dixie finally showed some mental life. Her eyes fluttered open. For good measure,  
she jerked her hand out of Kelly's concerned one." I heard that joke, you two nutcases. I just couldn't answer.." she growled.  
"Not yet, anyway. Just how much is all this attention gonna cost me? I've never needed an ambulance before.."

"Hardly anything and ...we're glad you liked it.." Johnny said.  
"And everybody ELSE'S glad that you're conscious. Now you know the routine. Quit griping and answer my questions already."

Dixie sighed under her O2 mask and lifted her knees a little higher at a particularly viscious pain stab. "Go.."

"What are your symptoms? We already know about the fever, diarrhea and the vomiting."

"Abdominal pain. Surprise!"

Roy and Johnny made a face. Chet just laughed.

"Do you have any allergies?"

"No."

"Are you on any medications or have you taken anything for this?"

"None and no."

"What kind of abdominal history do you have? Anything like a past incarcerated hernia, intussuception, cholecystitis, cystitis,  
duodenal ulcers, diverticulitis, abdominal aortic aneurysm,  
kidney infections, kidney stones, pancreatitis,  
pelvic inflammatory disease...."

Dixie just rolled her eyes at the last one.

"Sorry.. And I know you haven't had any kids recently.."

She glared at Gage indignantly.

"..ever.." he amended self consciously, clearing his throat.

Dixie let him off the look-that-could-kill hook.  
"None on all counts, Johnny. All I know is that I hurt.  
Horribly. And I'm so hot I feel like I'm gonna die." she whimpered instead.

"No you're not. Your pressure's sitting at an even 100 now. Up twenty millibars." Roy grinned.

"Speak for yourself. You aren't hurting." she snivelled.

"He could be if you punch him one.." Chet suggested.

"Don't tempt me.." she spat.

Right then, Johnny tested for rebound tenderness over her stomach and found a definite positive finding when she shoved his hand away with a sharp intake of breath and suddenly grew five shades paler. " Uh huh.  
And right over McBurney's point, Roy.."

Dixie met both the paramedics' eyes with a blank stare.  
"You've got to be kidding. Appendicitis?" she pegged.

"We don't know that and none of us will. Not until after a battery of testing.." Roy admitted.

"Cap, how long on that ambulance? She's.. VERY.  
stabilized now." Gage asked, putting a bored chin into a hand on an elbow lean.

"Let ME find out for ya, Cap." and Kelly neatly exited the apartment to avoid the storm to come. "I'll....just.. show them the way through darkest Africa out here..." he said.

"My garden's not THAT bad! Oww.." Dixie fired back,  
doubling over when her shouting irritated her side again.

Gage returned to his questioning. "Last oral intake?"

"Uhh,, I don't remember.." she sighed weakily from the pillows.

Roy rubbed his nose. "Morton called her diminished LOC right on the nose. Hypoglycemia.."

"Not him, too...?! Ughh!" Dixie denied. "It's bad enough having Kel and Joe snooping around and finding out about this.." she winced.  
"But to have that bedside mannerless automaton knowing about it.."

"Shall I relay that message?" Johnny quirked, holding out the biophone receiver. "He's listening.."

Dixie paled even further.

"No, he's not. I covered the phone when you started up about him. Aren't I nice?" Gage sniffed. "Events leading to your illness?" he continued, scribbling into his note pad.

Dixie sputtered, recovering on all tracks but the physical.  
"Let's see, over work, under pay.." she ticked off on her fingers.. " a tiny head cold and now I've got a big problem with a certain bunch of real pesky firemen.." she blathered.

Johnny ignored her. "When was the onset of your pain?"

Dixie finally got intimated by the proceedings and started answering without bristling. "Started mid line bilaterally around 11 am, right after work, yesterday."

"What provoked it?"

"Moving." she snapped.

"What does it feel like?"

"Awful."

Now it was Roy's turn to roll his eyes.

Now Gage poured on the purest kind of paramedic mule headed cussedness. "Does it radiate anywhere?" he asked through gritted teeth, staying outwardly professional beyond that one anomaly.

"Not anymore. You found the X that marks the spot."

Johnny bit his lip. "How severe is it?"

"Bad."

Cap started chuckling and had to amble away.

"Does anything make it better?" Roy tried when Johnny began boiling.

"Unconsciousness did, Roy, and I got you two to thank for dragging me kicking and screaming out of it."  
Dixie said quite honestly, ripping off her oxygen mask.  
"Excuse me, I'm going to go puke.." and she started to get up.

Both Johnny and Roy.... and Cap... stopped her by grabbing and laying across her chest, knees and legs. "You're not going anywhere, Dixie! You've lost your right to make a judgement call." Hank thundered.

"Who says?!"

"We all do!" Gage shouted. Then he narrowed his eyes in a challenge. "Let her go, Cap. Roy, you too."  
Reaching over, he shut down Dixie's running I.V. to TKO.  
"Ok. Prove it."

Dixie eyed Johnny suspiciously. "Prove what?"

"Prove that you're fully medically competent to handle this health matter..." he said firmly stabbing a finger down on the bed sheets in between them. "If you can stand up on your own two feet, without blacking out,"  
he said waggling a finger in her face."...all of us will just pack up.....and we'll leave..."

The silence in the room was palpable.

Dixie's hand snaked over and dialed up the I.V. to a fast gush in the drip chamber.

"Ah, ah ah.." Johnny said, jerking the tubing out of her hand and he redialed it back down to TKO. "Without any outside help or adjunct." he clarified.

Then he pulled her sheets down and invited her to swing her legs over the side of the bed.

Dixie froze like a deer in the headlights.

Then her jaw clamped shut and the insult she was about to hurl died aborning. She yanked the covers back up to her chin and her teeth started to chatter. "You boys make sure neither Kel nor Joe does my surgery.."

Johnny relaxed his finger pointing stare and he planted the abandoned O2 mask that was hissing around her neck to back over her face.

She didn't protest. "Promise me..." she asked of her two hands on hips posturing paramedics.

"Ok.." Roy shrugged and he turned up her I.V. to a shock fighting level again.

Feeling a bit like the devil, Johnny added, "We'll let Morton do it."

Dixie nearly levitated off the bed.

Right then the elegant Victorian phone on Dixie's nightstand rang.

"Uh oh." trickled Cap.

Johnny picked it up, reluctantly, after it rang six times. "Oh, hiya doc.  
Uh, what do you mean what am I still doing over here? Uh, that's kind of a long story. You see..uh.. Gotta go, doc. There in a few minutes!" and he slammed the receiver down.

Just as Johnny hung up the phone, Dixie's eyes rolled back and she blacked out dissolving into unconsciousness once again.

Johnny Gage moved. "Dixie? Hey--" and he reached out to touch her chin when Roy DeSoto stopped him.

"Why don't we let her be, Johnny?" he smiled. "Looks like she's finally given in to that long rest her body's been demanding that she'd better have. She's comfortable enough and breathing fine on her side just as she is without us messing around with an oral airway. We'd be disturbing her if we did any further monkeying."

"But--" he bit his lip, considering, and checking a sudden retort.  
"Ok, convince me. What's her pressure now?" checking McCall's pupils again in a search for how far down she'd gone.

"116/72.." he said pointedly amused. "The I.V.'s HAS done its work.  
And see? On the monitor...." Roy invited with an eye glance.

Johnny studied Dixie's tracing EKG reading on the scope and his critical analyzing frown slowly turned into a light smile. "Sinus rhythm.  
finally." he sighed.

"Yeah, her rate's about 58." Roy agreed. "Not stressed any longer at all.."

"Now that's what I call sleeping.." Kelly remarked.

"Chet, how would you know?" Gage commented. "You're not a paramedic like us." The irritation on giving into his partner's low impact patient care plan was still festering a bit under the skin. He liked his victims awake and talking when they didn't have vitals that disfavored maintaining that status.

"No, but I know good vital signs notes when I hear them." he said, unoffended.  
"I got the smarts when I need em, Don't you worry yourself about that, pally."  
he said, winking at Roy to let him know he was in a needle Johnny Gage mode again now that all the excitement was over.

Gage rapidly starting cleaning up and tidying while Roy readied Dixie's apparatus for gurney loading. "No, you're definitely pumpkin positive,  
Chet..." he mumbled.

"What? I didn't quite hear ya, Johnny? What the heck's pumpkin positive mean?" he grinned, giving motions of a gimme more gesture behind Gage's back where the dark haired paramedic couldn't see it.

The gang just folded arms together to watch the verbal tennis match with the same grins on their faces.

And Johnny walked right into the baiting, hook, line and sinker. "If a doctor writes 'Pumpkin Positive' on your notes, Chet, they mean if they shine a penlight into your mouth, they would encounter a brain so small that your whole head would light up."

"Oh, uh huh." Kelly said, mildly, completely unruffled. "Gee, that's really interesting,  
Gage. But what IQ scale fits your place at the shallow end of the gene pool?  
You didn't even see that Dixie's just snoozing right now until Roy here, pointed it out to you."

"Chet---"

"Ok, enough's enough." Cap intervened, chuckling. "If you two carry on in here much longer, you just might DO what Roy says not to do and you'll wake her up.  
You guys can go play debate team after the call's over. Come on, Kelly. Back to the engine. Stoker and Marco are already waiting for ya. "

"But--"

"But nothin, I'm only lagging behind because I wanna make sure that Dixie's place get's locked up again once the PD gets here. You know my signature's needed on the house entry form. "

"That's all right, sir. I can take care of that.." said Millie the land lady..

Cap blinked and her comment didn't register under the hard thinking and disciplining he was still embarking upon. " I'll take the squad in so Roy and John can fuss over her at much as they'd like on the way in. Now, shoo.."  
Hank said, jerking up his chin in a firm, I'm the captain look.

"Cappp..." Chet whined. "Are you gonna let Johnny keep picking on me?" he said in jest.

"No, I'm gonna let YOU take a time out on HIM. That wasn't a request, Kelly.."

"No, it was an order, I know.. I know." and he trudged out the door,  
putting on his helmet again over his smoky curls. "Why spoil my fun? I was just trying to lighten the tense mood radiating out from a certain someone still leaning over the bed. And Dixie hasn't been disturbed. She hasn't moved since Roy tipped her head back."

"Go.." Cap pointed, his stenorous baritone cracking out.

"Yes, sir.." Kelly said automatically at the undeniable tone of command. He snapped his fingers in self chiding annoyance when he realized that he was still so well conditioned, that he actually jumped to attention at it.

"Weellll, maybe there's a few seeds in the jack o lantern after all." Gage shot back after him. "You understood that ok.."

All the firemen raised their heads when the sound of the Mayfair responding to their rescue call appeared and finally pulled up just outside.

"Gage, zip it." Cap coughed, trying to hide a smile.  
"You're falling behind. DeSoto's got the I.V. box already put back together and the attendants are only seconds away."

Millie rubbed her chin. "I guess all the acid banter means that Dixie's really ok?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"It sure does.." Roy said, standing up from one last check on Dixie's respirations. "I'll leave a note with her about your involvement in resecuring the apartment.  
The policeman coming is just a formality. Cap's only got a few lines to fill out on the officer's report."

"All right. Thank you, gentlemen, for helping Dixie like you have. It really was sitting in the back of my mind, that something wasn't right. I was just too timid to inquire and intrude, you know?"

"Yeah, we know." Johnny said. "It's a trait of being American, that respect for any individual's home privacy.  
No harm's done, ma'am."

"Thank goodness."

-  
"Dixie..

Dixie.. Can you hear me? Look what I brought..." said a firm but quiet male voice.

Dixie opened her eyes and peered around a flowing oxygen mask.

And saw a grotesque swollen pink and purple worm, floating in a jar of preserving fluid..

"GahHH!" she jerked, throwing her hands up. "Get that thing away from me." and she immediately winced when stitches,  
external and internal, snagged on her innards. "Ooo.."

"What? It's not a prop from the little shop of horrors, Dixie."  
said Joe Early with a chuckle. "This was part of you fifteen minutes ago."

"I know what it is, Joe. It's just so... yyuck.." she shuddered, coughing up a plume of anesthetic gas from her chest as she got a radar on how truly awake she was becoming. Her nursing side finally got the better of her. "Ok, so what did ya find?" she gave in.

Kel Brackett, to Joe's left, also seated on the bed, answered her.  
"Well, your appendicitis was uncomplicated. We found no fecaliths, lymph node involvements, or any signs of appendiceal perforation. You just had some moderate suprefaction of the mesentery that didn't effect the peritoneum. We did a WBC and a flat plate, which was negative along with a UA for blood which came completely clear of red cells.  
Your kidneys,..are fine."

Dixie blinked, still very groggy. "Would you explain that in plain english? I think I'm still a little hollow in the head right now."

"Rest, Dix." Kel said, getting up. "We'll just leave your souvenir on the bedstand for you to analyze later."

"Don't forget to use a pillow on your abdomen when you have to cough up some of that phlegm. And yes, we made sure the incision was made below the bikini line." Joe added.

"You're all heart." she grumbled, rolling over to sleep some more. "And if I hear one crack about the mickey mouse shaped beauty mark I know you saw down there coming from the nursing staff,  
I'll personally feed you both halves of my appendix floating around in that specimen jar."

"She's awake, Kel. I think we can leave now. No one who's too sleepy to breathe ever musters up a threat."

"You're right, Joe. Sweet dreams, Dix, and get better fast.."

The only reply was a blissful mumble followed by a rub of a few fingers on her nose.

The two Rampart doctors left the recovery room on scrub paper covered shoes, gingerly.

---------------------------------------------------------

Captains DeSoto and Gage looked at each other as their shared conversation about Dixie's crazy day off rescue finished in their mind's eye.

Then Johnny changed the subject...

------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Dixie diving into a pool.

Photo: Johnny catching a fainting Dixie outside.

Photo: Dixie lying in bed at home, sick.

Photo: Appendix surgery shot.

Photo: Dixie defiant in Suzy Q pj's.

Photo: Gage and DeSoto as fire department captains.

*  
Subject: Running Hot? From: Erin James () Sent: Wed 3/19/08 7:54 AM

Roy and Johnny downed the last of their sodas and rose to their feet. Gage wasn't through playing yet. "I don't want to go back to my station just yet. Do you?"

"Not really. It's kinda fun reminiscing like this. But, what can we do? The awards luncheon's over."

Gage suddenly had a light bulb go off over his head.  
"Think outside the bubble, Roy. Let's use our rank and run with it. Literally."

"How do you mean?"

"I really want to see our old haunts. You know, like the hospital?  
So let's grab a Resus Randy out of store and throw him behind a firetruck somewhere for the cadets to find and run it in like a full code.  
The chief'll love that kind of shakedown on a training day, and we'll get our wish of an extended vacation together.. Whatdiya say?"

"I like it."

"Okay.. Race ya for the store shed. There's a code Randy in there from the last cadet class that needs another go according to my status report last week. One, Two Three.. Go!"

And the two were off again, full tilt, stopping only long enough to snatch up their wind tossed hats and abandoned jackets as they made for the fire tower near Headquarters.

As they reached for the open padlock, to go inside to pick the thing up, Gage grinned. "I wonder how many paramedic cadets are about to need new shorts."

"The first two who are unfortunate enough to find our dummy."  
DeSoto replied, smiling hugely, hefting up the shockable manikin over one shoulder.

Johnny got the door. Gage grinned, "Now let's go have some real fun!"

-  
A half hour after Dixie McCall hung up the phone with Sharon, she thought, ::Sometimes I really miss being downstairs. Other times I'm glad I'm up here.::

Behind her, an L.A. County scanner burbled softly as she sorted through the day's paperwork. A new pair of voices caught her attention. It was preceded by a disregard call sign in code that was really a firefighter paramedic mock medical running in with a training manikin. The voices initiating the call over HT were Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage, who was manning communications for the exercise.

::Man. I haven't seen those two in years. I wonder how they're doing?  
Maybe I could sneak down there into Treatment Five Isolation when they arrived with their trainees to just say hello or something:  
Dixie glanced over at her desk. There was a picture of her and her on-again-off-again boyfriend of nearly ten years, Kel Brackett. ::We must be on again because the picture frame isn't broken and the current picture isn't damaged.:: she mused. ::I count eleven luncheons to date with him since--::

The office door suddenly swung open and broke Dixie from her train of thoughts. She looked up and said, "Can I help y--?..."

The sight that met her stopped her mid-sentence, a very tired and flushed Kel Brackett stood unmoving in the doorway.

Dixie struggled on the reason why. Kel was now the head of cardiology and worked closely with a lot of the hospital interns. He routinely checked in with Dixie hashing out details when they were both on duty the same shift, but now, somehow this was different. Horribly different.

Kel looked like he had been in the wrong place and at the wrong time extremely. Dixie sprinted for the door where he clung, the former nurse in her suddenly in full gear. "Kel, what's the matter?"

Kel groaned, "Not much really. Well, maybe something ...bad. G*d, have I really been working three days straight?"

"Lean on me Kel, we'll get you over to a chair and then I'll tell you."

"O-okay." he gasped, still heavily fatigued and ringing with sweat.

Kel was careful at first not to put his full weight on Dixie.

Dixie said, "Kel,I can handle you. Lean on me. I don't want you doing anything above the absolute minimum until I figure out what's off on you. You're as red as all get out. And hot."

Dixie braced herself as Kel put his full weight on her.

"I can tell you that.." he moaned. Slowly, she helped him over to the closest chair. Kel yelped when his head shot another stab of pain through his temples and eyes. He whisper-talked as he said, "Ooo, the mother of all migranes, Dix. Real bad this time."

"You don't get those, Kel. This is not the first time? Now you're worrying me. You can't even sit up straight. I want you to get on the floor right now before you pass out. Something's definitely not right physically here, I agree." She was shocked even further when he didn't protest the idea. "I'll use a couch cushion to raise your head up. Come on."

Dixie carefully helped Kel to the floor, onto his back. Natural reaction had Dixie loosening his tie so he could still breathe as he tried to get through his pain. Dixie spoke soothingly, "Hang on, Kel, I'm gonna get us help."

In pain, Kel's voice cracked, "Don't go far. I've got something.  
*ah* I've got ...s-something important I just gotta say to you.."

A worried knot caught in Dixie's throat, "I'm not going anywhere, Kel,  
you've got my full attention now, d*mn it all. Just lie still."

Thankful she had trousers on, Dixie kneeled at Kel's head as he closed his eyes. She reached up and grabbed the phone off of her desk. She had two quick phone calls to make. As she picked up the receiver to dial the first, she thought, ::I hope they're still here.  
I heard them on the base station scanner coming in with a mock patient, probably as an excuse to come in and see us all again for once:  
Dixie's hands shook slightly as she held the mouth piece and dialed. Thankfully, her call was answered in two rings. She almost cried when she heard, ##Treatment Five, Captain DeSoto speaking.##

Dixie fought to stay professional, "Roy, it's Dixie. Listen! I need medical help in Admin Office 103. NOW!"

Roy could tell something was seriously wrong. ##What exactly's going on?##

"Kel just came in looking like something the cat dragged in.  
He says his head hurts and he almost fell over when I tried to get him to sit down. He's on the floor now for safety. Conscious and alert. I'm going to call Emergency next but I know they won't be as fast responding as--"

The former full time paramedic kicked in in Roy. ##Dix, you know this as well as we do. Don't move him. Is his head up so his pressure's not aggravated?##

"Yes."

##All right, we'll be there in two with our gear and trainees.  
Get a gurney and orderlies to your floor. We'll take care of the rest.## Roy said.

"Okay." McCall sighed fast, and scared.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Roy hung up with Dixie. As Dixie called the emergency department for an M.D. stat upstairs, Roy turned to Johnny. "We have to go. All of us. We've an in-house emergency!"

Johnny heard the urgency in his former partner's voice and the paramedic of old in him, kicked in. "What do we need?"

"Long board, collar,..." Roy began listing off. "..defib, EKG.  
for non-trauma related head pain. Severe."

One of their paramedic trainees added more.. "and a blanket definitely."

"And the resuscitator and suction." said the other.

"Good." said Roy. "You two are definitely coming with us. This is the real deal."  
One of the certification students asked, "Do you need even more hands?"

"Nah, we're enough. A couple of orderlies are on the way." DeSoto replied.

Johnny and Roy grabbed their equipment and bolted. Johnny asked,  
"Where?"

"Dix's new office. The one we've heard about. In 103. It's Kel who's down."

Johnny paled as he and Roy kicked into high gear. Years removed from the last time they had officially been partners, the duo still knew how to play an ace game. They led their stunned pair of paramedic students up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Behind them, the manikin lay abandoned on the table.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

They arrived at Dixie's office even before the orderlies with the bed. Dixie looked up when she heard the stampede of feet. "He's a little worse. It's hard for him to talk now." Dixie turned back to Kel who was once again trying not to scream out in pain. "It's okay, Kel, help's here."

The look in Kel's eyes asked, as he frowned, nonverbally.::Who is it?::

Johnny and Roy spoke up, solving the riddle. "Easy doc, remember us?  
We'll get you downstairs soon."

Kel's short rapid breathing relaxed slightly when he heard the sound of old friends' voices. "Can't.. Don't know what's.. wrong fellas past working too much." he grunted.

"Your pulse's bounding, doc. Do you have a history of high blood pressure?"  
asked Roy.

The look on Kel's face told him no, with a little shock at DeSoto's first guess.

Roy and Johnny opened all the equipment. Johnny barked, "Johnson, lock your hands on his head and DON'T move them."

"Cerebral aneurysm?" whisper guessed the second of the students who was back turned away from Kel's view, at Gage.

"No." Johnny said. "His pupils are equal. See? And dilated. Get a pressure from both arms and start him on some O2, high flow."

The stunned student quickly followed directions. A commotion began as McCall rose to her feet suddenly.

Kel mumbled, "Don't leave, Dix." he said from under the mask.  
His trembling hand jerked and knocked a small ornate box that was hinged and velvet lined in blue, out from one of his pockets.

Dixie's voice cracked, "I'm not. I'm just checking for the orderlies."  
she told him without looking back. "Who're running slow as usual." she growled, walking swiftly away across the room.

The fallen box caught Johnny's eye, who recognized it for what it was. Brackett groaned softly at him. "Don't let her see it." he hissed.  
Gage quickly hid it under Brackett's loosened shirt material.

Smiling despite the situation, Roy spoke reassuringly, "Easy doc, we'll make sure she doesn't get away that easily." he said, glancing up at the door McCall had flung wide open to admit the arriving hospital workers. "Now we're gonna get you onto this board. Let us do all the work. Don't move."

Kel took a quick breath knowing full well it was going to hurt his head even more. "Yeah, ..the standard. I might be prestr-" he grimaced.

Gage cut off his words with a hiss. "Shh.. Stay quiet! You already know why."

Roy was on Kel's left, Johnny behind him. DeSoto said, "Your call, Johnson. You have control of him."

"Go." said the student. Carefully, the trio turned Kel on to his side and the doctor yelled as they completed the roll onto the board that Johnny had pre-positioned.

Johnny and Roy had to swallow hard when they saw an odd flush of color and new pain on Kel's familiar face. ::When had he gone all hair grayed as Joe Early?:: they each wondered. They quickly secured him to the board. Kel yelped as his head was returned in a lift to a level higher than his twitching feet.

Johnny spoke calmly as he reset the flow rate for the oxygen to the top percentage. "Sorry about that, doc. We'll get you taken care of." Johnny finger looped at Roy to let him know the stepped up care. Roy gingerly set an EKG monitor near Brackett's head. "Strip's next, doc. Johnson, open his shirt a little at the neck. Dixie, is a doctor on the way?"

She nodded. "Somebody is. I heard people down the hall hollering about it just a second ago."

At the same time, Gage nodded at Johnson. "What'd you get for comparison BP's?"

"198 over 110 left. 200/102 right." replied the medic.

"Hypertension? He must have a spike going on.. Or something similar." Roy decided. He leaned down to Kel and asked him direct questions. "Doc,..open your eyes. How's your vision? Is your sight normal? Any deviations in your peripherals?"

Brackett just moaned, still fully awake but lost in agony. DeSoto saw that Kel didn't even want to blink once his eyelids parted. But his eyes met Roy's easily.

"That's all right. I'll take that as a no. Just try to relax." DeSoto said.  
"Nickels,.. do a Cincinnati Scale on him. You remember the checks on that? We're looking for anything abnormal."

"Yeah, I do." the second student replied. And the firefighter got on it instantly.

Gage patched Kel in using both his wrists and his offside ankle on limb leads for speed. "Sinus Tach. No elevations." he read off the screen.

"I'll get a serum glucose." offered Johnson, holding up a glucometer.

"Yep. That's right. Look for that. He may be high there. And for a cause different than a possible TIA crisis or arterial defect like we're all thinking."

"Probable, Gage. Any one of them. Maybe even.. DKA.." grunted Brackett.

"Shut up." Johnny said. "Be a patient for once, doc. You're not a doctor now. You're the body on the carpeting we're all working on."

Johnny looked over at a very shaken Dixie who had returned to start Kel's sixteen gauge saline I.V. for them. He saw that she had a death grip on Kel's hand with her free one even as she held up the fluid bag set to keep open with the other.  
"Dix? What can you tell us on a history?"

Dixie's voice cracked slightly. "Sorry guys. I just...can't think right now.. I.." Dixie's voice dropped off.

Roy spoke gently as he took Dixie's free hand, "It's okay, Dix.  
He can tell us after the attending knocks out some of this pain and pressure once we're down in a care room."

As one, the firemen picked Kel up, board and all and moved him to the waiting stretcher. Johnny laid the oxygen between his legs as Roy raised the bed rails to protect Brackett. The motion didn't even make Kel cry out.

The next whole conversation was at such a soft level, that only the two who spoke next, could hear any of it.

Johnny commented, "See? We're gentle but quick." Gage told Kel.  
"Keep squeezing Dixie's hand on the way down, all right? I can tell she wants you to."

"The feeling's mutual nowdays, hose jockey.." he hissed as Johnny bent low to listen to his lungs for a second with a stethoscope.

"Your secret's safe. So's this." he said, pressing on the hidden ring box at Kel's hip. "Want us there when you pop the q--"

"No!.. Ahhhhh." he grimaced, almost bouncing off the board. "This is between me... and her.. Got it?"

Gage covered up his amused verbal jab with a hold on Kel's shoulder.  
beginning to speak loudly again. "Yeah, I know it's frustrating. Just lie still." he joked lightly. "You're keeping stable from what we can see here." he said, poking the EKG monitor. "Good deal." he coughed, covering up the moment neatly.

The students and the orderlies took off. Suddenly, not aware of what had happened, Dixie struggled to get to her feet. Johnny's voice went soft,  
"Easy, Dix." In one motion, Johnny had Dixie in his arms long enough to set her onto her tingling legs. Roy followed the gurney out of the office.

Gage and McCall made good time and caught the same elevator Kel was on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The elevator ride was tense and silent; the students too cowed by the realism of the call to speak, and Roy and Johnny for being completely focused on their patient while they took continual vital signs and other level of consciousness checks.

"I'm finding nothing obvious." said Nickels of his neurological exam.

"All right." said Roy.

"Sugar's 80." reported Johnson.

At that finding, Brackett groaned in relief. ::I'm not diabetic.:: he thought.

As soon as the doors on the elevator opened, they quickly emptied the transfer car.

Roy yelled out, "Sharon, get Joe and Mike down here right away!  
It's Dr. Brackett. Sky rocketting B.P."

Head Nurse Sharon Walters was stunned when she saw who the incoming patient was. "Put him in Four." she said. Roy and Johnny nodded. Without breaking fast stride, they all went straight into the treatment room through the double doors.

Sharon realized the faster she got help the better, so she bypassed the pager system and picked up the phone to make the announcement herself. "Doctors Joe Early and Mike Morton, Report to Emergency. STAT! Doctors Joe Early and Mike Morton, Report to Emergency. STAT!" After making the the call, she too, headed for the treatment room.

Sharon was met by Roy, Johnny, the two orderlies, Dixie, and an extremely trussed up Kel. The paramedic students stayed to the back of the treatment room, still new enough to not want to get in the way.

------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Roy and Johnny standing near a manikin.

Photo: The gang regarding a resuscitation manikin on the floor.

Photo: Dixie grabbing Kel from behind in concern in an office.

Photo: Dixie looking worried in a treatment room.

Photo: Gage shocked at Rampart

Photo: Roy looking worried by a desk at Rampart.

Photo: Close up of a collapsed Kel Brackett on a bed.

Photo: Roy and Gage working on someone at Rampart.

Photo: Two hospital orderly EMTs at Rampart.

Photo: Joe treating a sick Kel in bed.

*  
From: Erin James ()  
Subject: Old Familar Places? Sent: Wed 4/02/08 3:40 PM

Kel asked through his oxygen mask, "Who?"

Sharon answered, "Relax, Dr. Brackett, it's Sharon. Joe and Mike are on their way now."

Roy said, "Get him undressed and covered, Johnny. Sharon, let's get another set of vitals." Carefully, Roy and Johnny prepped Kel, cutting away his shirt, underclothes and trousers, and replacing them with a loose, untied gown which they draped on backwards over him and the long board.

Sharon got the requested vitals. "198/150, 120 bounding, 22 labored."

Johnny turned to Dixie, "You okay, Dix?"

Dixie's voice was emotionally shaky at best, "Yeah, Johnny.  
I'm okay."

Johnny was about to call Dixie's bluff when Joe and Mike burst through the door. "What happened?" gruffed Mike, instantly moving to Kel's head.  
Joe and Mike were both stunned to see who the patient was. The fact that Johnny and Roy were also in the room, looking professionally dead pan and tight, added to their shock.

Joe asked, "Did he black out?"

Roy shook his head. "No. Pupils are equal." he said, handing over his note pad to Early. "There's some head pain though. Enough to keep him from talking to us a bit."

Dixie answered with more, her voice now strictly professional. "Kel stopped by my office and was red as a cherry. He said he had a migraine, and he doesn't get them. When I went to sit him in the chair, he said it hurt his head too bad, so I lowered him to the floor. Once he was there, I called Roy and Johnny for backup because they are faster than our were here running a dummy code."

Roy picked up, "We went up to Dixie's office with gear and some of the cadets from the academy. An NS line's TKO. O2 fifteen liters. These spinal precautions are for our initial suspicion of a potential for cerebral injury because..."

Johnny anxiously finished, interrupting. "...Doc, we took his BP and we found he's in a hypertensive crisis. Might be a bad one." The seriousness of Johnny's words was not lost on anyone in the room.

Joe barked, "Mike, draw blood work. I want electrolytes, BUN, and creatinine levels to evaluate for renal impairment. Also, a CBC and smear to exclude microangiopathic anemia."

Mike quickly set to work as he said, "You got it, Joe."

Joe continued, "Sharon, get x-ray down here STAT. I want a full chest and skull series."

Sharon grabbed the phone across the room as she said, "Yes, doctor."

Joe looked over at Johnny, "Johnny, anchor a foley. We're gonna need a urinalysis."

Kel was partially aware and groaned at Joe's order.

Joe looked up sympathetically at his friend, "Sorry, Kel. Sedation's gotta wait until we know what we're dealing with."

Kel mumbled, "I know. Better be ..quick..." he winced as his head throbbed.

Johnny nodded, understanding. He got out a foley pack from the back cupboard and started the procedure deftly.

Mike finished the blood work, "DeSoto, who's your fastest student?"

Roy thought for less then a second and replied, "Firefighter Johnson."

The student in question stepped up. Mike turned to him, "Take this to the lab. Our orders are rolled around the tube set with the list of what's needed on them. Tell them to get back immediately with results."

Johnson quickly said, "Yes, sir." Armed with his samples, the student quietly sprinted out of the treatment room.

Kel mumbled, "Dix, ..where..?"

Dixie gently grasped Kel's hand. "Right here, I haven't gone anywhere. You just try to relax. I'm staying.." she growled quietly.

Kel mumbled, "For the d-duration?"

Dixie turned so she could look Kel straight in the eye as she squeezed his hand just a bit harder. "Now you listen here Kel Brackett, I am not going to leave your side unless Joe and Mike order me to. And even then I won't do it without a fight." Dixie's voice softened as she felt Kel relax. She leaned into his ear and whispered. "Don't you know I love you too much to go anywhere? Just lay back and rest. I'm right here, the guys are here, and you're in the best doctor hands possible."

Kel settled down and whispered, "I lov--" he grimaced in pain when his head caused another spasm.

Dixie smiled, "Shhh... I love you, too."

The arrival of X-ray cut off of any more interaction between the ER's past chief physician and head nurse. Gage was also done inserting the foley. "Bladder's full. No blockage." he reported to Early,  
peeling off his gloves. "I've drained it into the bag."

Joe nodded and looked at Mike to get his attention on new orders. "Mike, I need a dipstick UA to detect hematuria or proteinuria. And a microscopic to detect RBCs or RBC casts."

Mike said, "You got it. I'll personally take a sterile to the lab while x-ray is here."

Joe said, "Okay... Kel, how's your breathing feel?" he said, listening to Kel's lungs.

Sweating, Brackett struggled to reply.  
"Not ...tight. It's...just reflexive. Pain's ten out of t--*ahh!*.."

"All right. Easy." Early soothed. "We'll keep your head up. If you're really as clear of pulmonary edema as you sound, I'll give you some Procardia sublingually, ten milligrams to start."

Kel gasped, panting in agreement, staying still.

Morton turned to Sharon as she returned from using the in-house phone connecting to the lab. "Switch out that Saline for Ringer's in case this is a precursor TIA."

"Right away, doctor." Walters acknowledged.

Joe turned to the x-ray techs. "I want a chest x-ray and a full skull series STAT!"

One of the x-ray techs quickly said, "Yes, sir."

Dixie kissed Kel's hand as she said, "We have to step out for a few minutes, but as soon as this is over, we'll be back."

Kel closed his eyes tightly as he gave in to pain once again.

Roy left quickly in front of Dixie. Johnny was behind her as the group left the treatment room. They both knew Dixie was actually hiding her fear to keep Kel calm.

-  
Once kicked out of the treatment room, Morton split away fast for the lab.

Joe turned to the others, "Let's go to the lounge and wait for X-ray."

But truth be told, nobody wanted to move. However, they all knew they needed a minute to regroup emotionally.

Reluctantly Dixie said, "Okay, Joe." as she glanced back nervously at the door closing behind them.

One of the waiting paramedic students spoke up, "Captain Gage?  
I'll come get you as soon as X-ray is done, sir." said Nickels. "I'll stay out here beside the door."

Johnny turned back to the student, "Thank you." He noted privately that the students were just as worried as the rest of them were.  
::Maybe he can see that we're all old colleagues. We're certainly not reining in our personal feelings on the matter.:: he thought.

Sharon was the last one into the lounge and she closed the door.

It was only then, surrounded by her closest friends, that Dixie let her emotions crack.

She shook and the tears fell as Johnny and Roy held her shoulders and both hands as she sat down into a chair.

Joe bit back his own fears and spoke calmly, "It's okay Dixie, he's going to turn out lucky. His EKG's stable, his CNS's still normal, and his lungs are cooperating by staying clear."

Dixie trembled as she spoke, "It's not fair, I should have seen the signs. I've tried for years to get him to slow down." she sobbed.

Johnny said, "Dix, we all did that. The good news is we caught this new development today and we're treating it fast. He's always been in the best hands possible. Especially for someone who has a tendency to hide symptoms."

Joe added, "He'll get the top vascular specialist. I'll personally see to that."

Dixie slowly calmed down, "Th-thanks, guys."

The group answered as one, "You're welcome."

The room went quiet as everyone privately dealt with unspoken emotions silently.

Just as Dixie had stopped shaking and had become fully calmed down, there was a knock at the door.

Roy quickly spoke, "Come in..."

The door opened and revealed Paramedic Student Nickels. "Cap, they're done. Doctor Morton and Cadet Johnson are back from the lab and are in the treatment room with Doctor Brackett."

Roy spoke, "Thank you."

Joe spoke up, "Let's go. I want to get Kel out of danger as soon as possible."

Nickels held the door open for the group as they left the lounge.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Seconds later, the group was back in the treatment room. Morton looked up. "Films are clear. I gave him the oral. BP's dropping tactilely. Still no signs of myocardial ischemia or left ventricular hypertrophy on EKG.  
I've followed up with intravenous nitroprusside and labetalol because Kel's still not bradycardic. And yes, I read your orders to not let his BP drop beyond a twenty percent reduction."

"Good. Last thing we need is organ perfusion problems on top of everything else." said Joe. "Sharon, turn his O2 to P.E.E.P.  
I want to normalize his respirations."

Kel who had regained a bit of strength in his voice asked, "Who's back?" he panted, opening stress swollen eyes.

Joe answered, "All of us, Kel."

Johnson spoke, "Doctor Early, we have the lab blood results."  
Morton added, "And the urinalyses.." he said handing both computer printout slips he gathered up from the firefighter.

Joe said, "Terrific. Let me see them." The requested lab reports were handed over. Joe continued, "Roy, get me another set of vitals. Make sure you take the BP in both arms."

Roy took the BP cuff and stethoscope that Sharon offered him as he said, "Yep."

While Roy took another set of vitals, Joe looked over Kel's test results and grimaced. The news was not unexpected, but still wasn't good.

Joe's uncharacteristic quietness alerted Kel, even in the condition he was in, that something was far from right.

Kel asked, "What's the damage, Joe? Don't sugar coat it."

Joe replied, "You know I won't do that, Kel. Let me get your updated numbers triangulated, then I'll explain."

Kel let out a frustrated sigh. He knew Joe was only doing his job, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the news was going to be ugly. "Okay."

Joe looked up. Roy answered his unasked question, "BP in both arms is down, but still hypertensive at 160/120. Respirations are slightly labored at 30. Eyes are beginning to show unequal pupils now, but they're still reactive."

"That's got to be post HTN." Early double checked Kel's eyes with his penlight. He found the presence of new retinal hemorrhages and some thick exudate with papilledema. "No gross bleeding though." He straightened up. "Kel, how's your pain now?"

"An eight..." he groaned.

Joe grimaced, the marginal vitals added to some already ugly news. He decided he couldn't put it off any longer. "Kel, do you want the good news first or the reason you're going to be staying in ICU for at least the rest of the day next?"

Slightly agitated Kel replied, "Might as well start with the good, hopefully it involves getting me off this d*mn board."

Everybody in the room bit back a chuckle.

Joe said, "Actually, yes it does. Your head films are negative so we can get you off the board. There are no signs of an active CVA occurring. None at all. We'll double check your reflexes in a bit to confirm that once you've been freed off c-spine."

Dixie spoke up, "Thank G*d." She thought ::Well, that's one point in his favor:  
Roy winked at Brackett and looked over at Johnny, "What do you say, Captain Junior? Wanna get the good doc off of the board here?"

Johnny replied, "You know it."

Johnson asked, "Need us?"

Roy replied, "Yeah, grab the board as we roll him."

Johnson nodded acquiescence. "Captain..."

Once the trio was in position, Johnny undid the straps. "Ready on your count, partner." he sighed at Roy, taking Brackett's ribs and hips in a grip through the sheets.

Roy nodded. Without a word, they carefully rolled Kel onto his side on the head raised gurney.

Once he was tipped up, Johnson removed the board and called out, "It's clear."

Johnny and Roy rolled Kel back on to his back without disturbing his tubes and lines and lastly, they removed the cervical collar he had been wearing.

Morton, who had quietly watched Brackett's EKG for adverse changes, commented, "Nothing stays the same, even after all these years, does it, boys?"

Roy and Johnny sighed and they both answered at the same time, "No it doesn't, Doc."

Kel piped up, "I'd never want it to. So I'm sick. Big hairy deal."

Dixie added, "Shhh!"

Kel tried to laugh as he focused on Joe. "All right, Joe, no mincemeat, d*mn it! What's the real damage?"

Nobody was surprised by Kel's attitude. In fact everybody but Johnson, expected it. The young firefighter still looked startled.

Joe took a deep breath and dove in head first. "Kel, bluntly put,  
you've had a massive hypertensive crisis of ..unknown.. etiology. We need to get this and its cause under control STAT or you're gonna be in even more serious trouble later on."

"What are you thinking?" Brackett gasped, suddenly holding very still on the bed.

"Could be anything, Kel. You know that as well as I.  
Renal parenchymal disease, tubulointerstitial nephritis,  
Cushing syndrome, tyramine-containing food, or even coarctation of the aorta." Early ticked off on his fingers.

"...which a vascular specialist can determine, if it's there." Brackett sighed in worry.

"Precisely." Early admitted. "We've a long road to go yet to find out how to manage your new condition."

Morton jumped in. "But we can do the standard for now."  
Joe turned to Morton, "Lets get him started on further I.V. treatment. I want to get his BP down even more,  
but we can't do it fast."

Morton nodded. "Okay, what do you want to use?"

Joe replied, "Start a second IV. We'll infuse one with nitroglycerin and the other with intravenous furosemide. Mike, call upstairs to the ICU to alert them that we're coming."

"Lasix's my ticket for the one day in ICU?" Kel guessed.

"Yep." Early told him.

"Sensible. I still might stroke out." Brackett admitted weakily.

"Oh, Kel. Think positive." Dixie chided. "I can't do it for the both of us. I'm the worst basket case right now."

"I was kidding, Dix." Brackett half groaned.  
Roy asked Early, "Doc, you want both in one arm?"

Joe answered, "No, it'll be harder to monitor drips that way."

Johnny had already pulled the drugs. He turned to Kel. "Doc, you have a preference where?"

Kel replied, "Right hand. Not antecubital. Let the new guy start it." he said of Johnson. "I wanna see him work."

Roy smiled and indulged him.

Morton hung up the phone. "ICU's waiting for him."

Joe said, "Good to hear."

"Not good to hear." said Kel. "I know the nurses who're up there." he quipped unhappily.

Dixie added, "Hush. I'll be one of them. Let's go."

Brackett smiled slightly. "Yes, ma'am."

Johnny unfolded the IV pole on Kel's gurney and carefully hung both IVs after they had been injected and double checked for open flow rates.

Brackett began to shiver and Dixie quickly covered him up in another shock sheet. "Easy. That's your lucky sign.  
Your hypertension's over if you're feeling all this cold air now."

"Pain's almost gone." Brackett sighed as he slipped into sleep.

Joe spoke quickly, "Let's go. Sharon, go catch the elevator and stop it."

Sharon was already three-quarters of the way out of the door, "Yes, doctor." her voice floated back.

Johnson held the door open as Kel was wheeled out between Roy and Johnny, in their grip. Joe and Mike followed closely behind with the portable crash cart and his chart.  
And as she promised, Dixie did not leave Kel's side.

Kel slowly relaxed out of the picture. His tension was still there due to the seriousness of his condition, but it was mixed with relief that part of the problem had been found. His loss of consciousness was welcomed by his doctors and his paramedics who turned him onto his side for ease of airway care.

-------------------------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later, Joe, Mike, Roy and Johnny left Dixie at Kel's bedside in the ICU.

Joe turned to the former paramedic partners, "I know it's been years boys, but you still have it."

Morton added, "Thanks for all the help with Kel. I'm sure he'll be thanking you, too, once he's feeling better. And soon." he promised.

"Thanks, that reassurance means a lot to us."  
Roy and Johnny both said, "You're welcome, docs."

Mike and Joe left to tend to Kel once more.

Johnny turned to Roy and said...

-------------------------------------------------

Photo: Brackett lying sick in bed, sweaty.

Photo: Dix kissing Kel on a couch at home.

Photo: Roy and Johnny looking serious in turnout at Rampart.

Photo: Roy and Johnny in the nurse's lounge with a drug box.

Photo: Joe treating a patient with Gage and a cop nearby.

Photo: Morton setting up tubing for a test near Johnny.

Photo: Gage talking to Roy in a treatment room.

Photo: Gage and DeSoto looking at each other in conversation.

*  
Subject:The Mortal Vein From: patti keiper () Sent: Wed 4/02/08 10:29 PM

The doors closed on the critical care room where Dr. Brackett lay quietly sedated.

DeSoto and Gage made their way down the busy corridor and automatically stopped at their usual drinking fountain to wet their mouths that had parched with worry for Kel.

"Wow." said Johnny., leaning against the wall. "When did we get so old?"

"How do you mean?" asked Roy, watching his past partner turned fire captain grooming his hair in the reflection of the fountain's splash chrome. He was subconsciously searching for gray strands there.

"I...he.. The doc's changed so much." Johnny agonized, agape.

Roy smiled gently. "We're all mortal, Johnny. We change a little bit every day. And as much as I know you really want it to, it never stops."

Johnny studied his training ground dusted shoes and stuck his hands into his pockets. "I don't know why I hate change. I just do."  
he murmured, smiling crookedly. "Seeing Dr. Brackett in there,  
looking a whole lot like Joe Early's twin brother.." he said, circling a few fingers over his head over his wind disarrayed curls. "It almost threw me for a loop, man."

Roy nodded in understanding.

"...But he's a happy man, Roy." Gage sighed finally, incredulous.

"Oh? How can you tell?" DeSoto asked, angling his head.

"He's got that secret of his going on." Johnny snorted. "I'm almost jealous...."

Roy laughed outright when Johnny went on.

"...I had a crush on Dixie once. Like you wouldn't believe. But I never let on." Gage continued.

DeSoto grinned. "I knew."

Johnny's face fell. "You did?"

"Yep." said Roy. "It was your ears that gave you away. They flushed bright red as I recall for a whole month there whenever Dixie's voice came over the biophone..." he admitted, rubbing his nose in amusement.

Gage made a face.

"Don't worry about it." Roy said, throwing a hand out in dismissal. "That can still be your own little privately dead secret."

Johnny relaxed.

Roy re-hefted up the critical care gear box that he was still carrying.  
"Come on, Captain Junior. Let's go grab a bite to eat. I wanna see if the coconut pie's still as bad as I remember it."  
Together, the two headed away from Emergency for the cafeteria.  
"We can resupply and pick up our two scene oggling cadets when we're through."

"Sounds good." said Johnny.

"You're kidding me, right?" Roy said, his mouth flopping open.

"I meant the plan, Captain Pally," Gage clarified. "..not the pie."  
he chuckled, as he picked up the oxygen apparatus that had been his to haul in. "I'm buying.. I'm finally rich enough for once."

Roy cracked up and shook his head ruefully.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Roy and Johnny walking down a Rampart hall with drugboxes.

Photo: Roy and Johnny having a deep discussion in the waiting room.

Photo: Roy and Johnny regarding each other seriously, worried.

*  
From: patti keiper Date: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:32 am Subject: Here's To Hounds, Hats and Happy Times..

Roy and Johnny couldn't suppress a smile of nostalgia as they parked their borrowed red Battalion car in the side lot next to the gas pump of Station 51. Eagerly, Johnson and Nickels made for the back yard after spotting a few of their firefighter colleagues up on the tower, hanging hose. "Thanks, Captains,  
for taking us here for lunch. Now we can pick some brains about the upcoming paramedic exam." Johnson said for Nickles.

Half heartedly, Captain Gage looked over their heads, trying to eyeball who still consisted of 51's crew where they were barely visible up over the roof as they worked, through the tall, breeze tossing torrey pine tree. "Yeah, sure. No problem. We have to meet up with Captain Stanley anyway for the latest headquarters meeting minutes. It was his turn to take notes for the month. And nice work at the hospital earlier. You guys kept perfect, cool heads. That's what's needed."

"Like real pros.." Captain DeSoto added.

The two beamed sheepishly. Johnny barely noticed the two young firemen as they took off down the driveway alongside the station.

Roy began smiling. "Think he still remembers us?" he teased.

"Hank? Yeah." Gage scoffed, amused. "How can he forget us? We were his very first paramedic team. And hopefully, not the worst one he's had so far to date."

"No risk of that. We were good enough to get promoted, weren't we?"

"I guess. But I still kinda wonder how we rank up, ya know?"

Roy just sighed. "Okay, let's go ask him then. Just to appease that worry streak you've still got going on."

"I'm not worrying. I'm just--"

"...making mountains out of moleholes. As usual. Don't fret about it any. That's one of the personality traits that probably endears ya to your men the most." DeSoto said, punching the code combo that opened the outer door leading into Cap's office from the sidewalk.

Hank wasn't at his desk. Gage flipped up his watch hand. "Oh. It's noon." he said, reading the time myopically. "He's probably pulling kitchen detail."

"He's got us to thank for that." Roy chuckled. "Remember?"

"Yeah, it was after we saved him from his quarry mine fall the week Chief McConnike died. I'll never forget the look on his face as he was repairing Melton's burned hat on the kitchen table.."  
Gage admitted. "I wonder what made him so thoughtful that day."

"Only Hank knows for sure." Roy told him. "Come on, let's surprise the guys and set the table for everybody. If they're hanging hose, they haven't had the time to do it yet."

"You're right about that. But I still wonder what really happened back then that changed him so much that day. It was like Stanley had become a different man." As they walked through the firefighter empty vehicle bay, Johnny's memory expanded into another daydream of the past as he ran his hand along the sleek side of their old rescue squad, parked in its usual place...

*  
From : "Patti Keiper"  
Subject : Recovering the Past.  
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 23:30:14 +0000

(From Episode Six, The Golden Horn)

Hank Stanley adjusted his sling around his loose fitting nautical ivory carnigan and he sighed deeply, ...just before he rang the McConnike household doorbell.

The white lacy curtain on the other side of the pane of glass shifted briefly, as the slight form of Gail McConnike checked to see who had come calling so early in the morning.  
She was still tired from days of crying since the funeral. But Gail instantly changed her outward demeanor when she saw who it was who'd come calling. "Hank.. you've been discharged from the hospital so soon?"

Hank Stanley pulled the bundle of white roses with a gold enveloped sympathy card nestled inside of them, from behind his back. "I...sort of made a pest of myself, Gail. You see.. I.  
had to come here. Sort of knew I....needed to be here, now.. For you and your daughter."

Gail accepted the perfumey blooms, taking comfort in their heady, water coaxed aroma.  
"Thank you, Hank. Won't you come in?"

Cap nodded self consciously and he only sat himself down on the flower patterned couch when she insisted that he do so.  
"So how are you holding up..?" he asked without preamble. "I...sort of feel compelled to ask you that. Stop me if I'm too personal here. I- I--I don't want to overstep my bounds."

Gail's freckled face finally beamed inside a frame of silver white and black curls. "Now that's Melton rubbing off on you again. Right to the core, Hank Adams Stanley. And you know it.  
When you're in this house I expect you to be yourself and yourself only. Is that clear?" she smiled slightly.

"Yes, maam.." Cap said, falling into a moment of remembering the Chief's last words spoken to him that day on the shoreline. He wasn't even sure that it really happened. Days later, as he lay healing in his hospital bed, he decided that how he had come to experience them didn't matter. What was important was realizing the profound effect that the Chief was still having on both their lives. Cap tentatively reached out and took Gail's hand in warm, close friendship. "Hard to break a habit engrained in my very fiber. Melton is still very much in my thoughts. There isn't a day that passes when I don't think of him."

"Join the club.." Gail said gently. "Would you like a drink? Coffee? Tea?"

"No, no thanks. I'm fine. I'm just about ready to stop by the stationhouse and let the guys know how I'm faring. They invited me to breakfast to celebrate my breaking out of Rampart."

Gail laughed gently. "No doubt it's Marco's mom's tamales again.." she guessed.

"How'd you know..?"

"It's Wednesday. Melton always used to bother you men on A shift each month on surprise inspection just so he could have an excuse to eat those wonderful tamales with you."

Cap's eyes smiled and he folded his good hand onto his lap.

"So how are YOU doing? That broken arm hurt much?" Gail McConnike asked of Cap's sling, misguessing what it was for.

"I just had some surgery to repair an artery that's all. I didn't break anything. It doesn't hurt much anymore.  
Brackett's a wonderful vascular surgeon. I-I...I am healing just fine. " Cap looked down and his eyes fell on the coffee table to the maroon photo album that lay there of Melton McConnike. It was opened, ironically to the days when Cap was a new firefighter under him.

On the second page, there was an unexpected shot from the day Cap first became Captain of Station 51. From the first moments in fact, when he had fired off his first surprise dress inspection on his new crew at 51 just to stretch his newly appointed rank's muscle. It surprised Hank that the photo was even there. He hadn't remembered there even being a photographer present on that day.

But then again, six years of similar inspections and years of runs made it difficult for recalling any great detail of his first day as "Cap". Hank remembered feeling far too nervous to remember much of anything.  
Seeing his own men, younger, and very sharp in their dress uniforms, gave Hank courage to return the question back at Gail. "So, how are you healing, Gail? It can't be easy for you to adjust at all. Again, stop me if I'm being too personal, please.." he insisted.

Gail noticed the picture that Cap's eyes were focused on and she slowly drew it out of the album so Cap could take a better look at it. "Here.." she said, after a slight hesitation. "Then keep it. It's a gift.."

"No, no, no.. I - I couldn't take this. It belonged to the Chief.. I..."

"Hank. It's yours now. Melton frequently sent photographers out to the stations where his first old crew each promoted into in order to hand those images back out to them during a special occasion, or other moving moment such as.." and her voice broke off..

Hank finished her thought for her. "...such as during a fireman's funeral.."

Gail smiled slightly. "Only with your station, Hank, he never ever got a chance to. You were too d*mned good at keeping all your men's rears intact.." she joked.  
"Melton loved that about you. One of the only captains to never lose a man."

"Careful, Gail, you might jinx me.."

"Rubbish.. Superstition is for fools..."

"And firehouse captains.." Hank quipped, waiting for Gail to gather herself to answer his question.

"True.." she admitted. Then her eyes grew bright with a sadness that only hinted the depth of her grief that was still very much a part of her existence." I'm taking it one day at a time." she sighed. "Friends make my days bearable. They bring food, flowers.." she laughed,  
indicating the vase that Cap had brought to her.  
"But the nights are the worse. I can...almost.....feel him in bed beside me sometimes. " she confessed.

Cap just nodded. But then he leaned forward,  
taking Gail's hand once more in comfort. "This is going to sound crazy, but I had a chance to ...feel ...him around me, too. I can't explain it, Gail.  
And I'm not even going to try. All that kept running through my mind while I lay there in deep shock on that shoreline, was how much the Chief loved you and how much he wanted you to be all right with his going..."

Gail's eyes filled and she firmly placed her other hand on Hank's and squeezed. "That's a two way street, Hank. You see, a few days before the accident, Melton wanted me to call you about a gift he wanted to bring you in July for the next annual fireman's picnic.."

"Oh?"

"Wait right here.." And Gail swept out of the sunny Victorian parlor into the den Cap could just barely see. She returned with a box that seemed to be stuffed with shredded white tissue paper. Gail took the picture of Cap's first official inspection from his hand and replaced it with her gift.

"What's this?"

Gail's face grinned. "Open it and see.  
This is part two to go along with your debut captain's photo."

Hank swallowed and opened the box.

The white delicate tissue paper fell away to reveal an old fireman's dress hat. It had a charred brown edged hole crowning where its headpiece frame cloth had been burned away and the metal worked captain's rank front emblem was still holding its shape where the stretched cloth used to be.

Captain Stanley gasped when he realized what it was.. "He saved this?"

"Of course he did. It was the first time a junior man ever held him accountable for questionable behavior and Melton always said that it was an extremely valuable lesson he learned that day." her voice adopted a McConnike sounding timbre. "Never wound a newbie in an inspection line no matter how tempting a joke might be. Or it'll come back to bite you.." she concluded. "He saved that as a reminder of you. Your revenge taken by burning this had a profound effect on Melton.  
He never tired of watching your career grow or watching you develop the skills and integrity that a true captain of the line only rarely gains.  
He was so proud of you, Hank."

Cap's eyes filled likewise and he gently touched an ashen edge of the hole in McConnike's old cap's hat. "I never knew.."

"And I never knew how dedicated you were to him, until the day you had that courier come to my house with his white helmet for the funeral with a letter from both you and Ben.  
I was deeply touched to learn that both of you were adamantly refusing the department's move to promote one of you to the Chief's spot, in his honor.."

"It's the least we could have done. The way they fill a gap's sometimes heartlessly swift."

"Well, that helmet's back in service now.  
I called Ben Stone myself and asked him to accept the post. He's been training for it all this week while you were still in the hospital. I--I hope I made the right decision in my recommendation to the Department heads. I know how much you would miss your men if I had urged you to take it.  
You would have done it in a heartbeat out of loyalty to me and Melton, without regard for your own wants and desires."

"Gail.. That's not true.."

"In a pig's eye, Hank. Look, you're not even meeting ME in the eye so I know you're lying.." she smirked.  
"I've had the time I needed, Hank. It's ok for someone else to carry on the job Melton loved so much. I'm ready to see the Chief's spot pass on to the next man believe me. I wouldn't have sent the helmet back if I hadn't thought so."

"You sure you didn't do that out of some quirky loyalty you might have to all of us captains that Chief McConnike has trained?"

"Well, maybe just a little.." Gail admitted at last,  
smoothing down her paisley china blue apron.

Hank smiled, gently putting away the ancient hat back into its box along with the photo Gail had given him. "Then loyalty must be an infection that knows no bounds for we are both afflicted with it most grieviously. And for that matter, so was Melton.  
For it is because of him that we're both now sitting here talking about the future."

"A future that I thought I would never be able to face. Yet, now I am.." Gail said, her face dawning with sudden comprehension.

"I'm very glad to hear that. To a degree that you couldn't even possibly imagine."  
Cap replied softly. He slowly caressed the hat box under his hand, marveling in the soothing feel its surface had on his skin and his soul.

----------------------------------------------------------

The sun was so far set that Mike Stoker had already taken in the station flags. Cap had not moved from his space at the kitchen table.

In front of him was a bolt of white cotton cloth,  
fabric glue and a stretching frame.

Roy, Johnny, Chet, Marco and Mike all watched with fascination as Cap completed his restoration of the famous burned McConnikee hat. No one was brave enough to ask how Cap had come by it again after so many years. But finally, Chet came out with it.

"So why'd ya do it?"

The room fell silent, even the sounds of four pairs of lungs suddenly stopping their breathing in shock at Kelly's bold bravado.

"Huh?" Hank grunted as he carefully painted gold leafing over the captain's rank crest on the newly restored hat's metal working, distracted. Then the question finally sank in. "Oh,.. uh, well. Let me set this brush down first. Let's see. The reason why.. Hmmmmm."

"Cap.." Gage complained.

"Oh, ok. ok. This is how it was. Well, you know how you and Kelly got into that game one year with the waterbombs in the whole Phantom fiasco?"

"Yeah.." Kelly said, swallowing nervously at finally being on the verge of getting the answer every man in the department wanted to know about Hank Stanley.

"Well, the Chief and I got into it in the same way.. Only we used firecrackers instead of water.."

Roy started to snicker.. "Y-You planted a firecracker in his hat?"

Cap grinned guiltily, blowing softly on his careful painting, so the 24 carat gold guilding would dry with a rich shine. "Yeah, won that oneupmanship AND the running bet that HQ heads had riding on us. Believe me, it was worth every hour I spent cleaning the latrine with a toothbrush."

"So that's why you never give yourself that chore to do. You hate it so much because it reminds you of this burned hat.." Kelly said, putting two and two together.

"Not anymore. In fact, as soon as I get my arm healed and get back on the duty rosters, I'll pull the can detail first day, like it SHOULD rotate through. There'll be no more of my pulling rank around here inside the station. Things are gonna be fair and square from now on."

"Hey hey hey..." John and the guys celebrated.

"Does that mean when I pull a prank on Gage in the future, that you won't be threatening me with a hose tower detail?"

"That standing order penalty doesn't count, Kelly. The tower's outside the station. I said I'd be fair about what goes on in HERE."

"Oh.." said the gang, severely disappointed.

Upon hearing that, Chet, Roy and Johnny fell into age old grimaces of frustration, in three familiar poses of see no, hear no, speak no evil.

Cap never saw their dismay. He was too busy repairing the symbol that used to be a source of pain that was now his ultimate destiny.

-------------------------------------------------

The next day, a tall figure in a dress suit fireman's outfit left his car inside the rural Burbank cemetery whose address a new widow had shared with him. It was approaching sunset.

Cap Stanley walked respectfully to a recently groomed grave and his understanding eyes fell on the name carved there on the rosy marble. He traced the name's lettering with a finger from his good hand and briefly rested on the still sun warmed stone,  
relishing the heat radiating there. "Chief.. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you were laid to rest here that day. But I sure know that you were there for me that afternoon in the quarry. I can never repay the debt I owe you for making me fight to live."

He sighed and smiled and then he said.  
"I hope this makes up for it at least a little bit."

Cap brought out the chief's old cap's hat, now appearing like new, untarnished and crisp. ::It's been restored with the love only two firefighters can share.:: Stanley wondered as he held it close.  
Hank hung it on the flower holder attached to the stone marker and touched it one final time. As an afterthought, Cap left behind another gift for the man still looming so large in his life; his own double bugle dress rank pin of captain.

The dimming sun glinted once on the insignia and it sparkled like the purest gold into his eyes as his fingers set it on the top of McConnike's snow white and black dress hat. "Here's to that big alarm call in the sky, Chief. Hope you're there commanding the scene first at every one of them. And if you meet up with any other of the boys who didn't make it, tell them I'm thinking of them, too..... This is Station 51, KMG 365. Over and out."

Hank Stanley began to smile as he made his way back to his car in the newly gathering, tender summer night.

Something deep inside of him that had been coiled tightly for so long,  
unraveled. Hank's relief was so profound,  
that it drew healing tears to his eyes that ran unchecked, down his cheeks.  
Cap's heart, was now finally, at peace.

Hank Stanley drove back to his station to a future that he now knew with absolute certainty as still belonging to him in every sense of the word.  
Behind, in the darkness, a wrinkle on the hat Cap had repaired, smoothed itself out in the moonlit wind, until it was inspection perfect, as if by an invisible hand from Chief Melton McConnike.

As if in agreement, a distant L.A. county siren answering a tones out call, wove through the peacefully sleeping cemetery,  
like a lullaby.

------------------------------------------------

A warm voice broke Johnny out of his reverie.  
"Roy? Johnny? What a pleasant surprise!" beamed Hank as he turned from the stove where he was basting garlic bread and stirring a pot of his trademark clam chowder. "Don't tell me. You're here for the minutes."

"Fraid so. Sorry we're late." DeSoto said, taking off his white hat. "We ran into a little excitement at Rampart running a mock code in with two trainees."

"Oh?" said Cap, scratching his thick white bushy sideburns.  
"What happened?"

"Brackett fell sick, but he's gonna be okay. We were there to bail him out of it in time. Something that's easily treatable."  
Gage replied, mindful of keeping confidential details.

"That's good to hear. How's Dixie these days? I never hear her over the biocom anymore on medical calls."

"She's been bumped upstairs. Unit Coordinator." Roy offered.

"And she's getting a new name soon." Gage simpered in amusement, not minding the breaking of that little secret.

Hank's mouth fell into shock. "No,.. really? Tying the knot with Kel is she? Well, I'll be d*mn*d. Can't say they aren't a good match for each other. We have been wondering about those two for years now.  
Coffee?" he offered, hefting up the always ready pot on the third burner in front of him.

"Please.." said both, helping themselves to their old mugs that still rested inside the cupboard. Johnny wasn't beneath standing to one side as he opened the door.

Hank guffawed at that old habit. "No water cans. That old Chet tradition, I forbid to every new guy that comes to the station. Eventually, I'll snuff out the tendency."

"Do you really want to?" DeSoto asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting old enough to get nailed by those boobytraps whenever I suffer a brain fart." Stanley admitted, as he pushed up reading glasses onto his nose.

Gage started up. "Who's still here?"

"Just about everybody. But the chores come first." Hank said, holding up an admonishing finger out of habit. "Oh, uh... that's right. I can't do that to you guys any more. We're all the same rank."

Gage and DeSoto just chuckled at the Cap inspired warning. "Don't worry. We won't disturb 'em until they're done." Johnny promised. His eyes cast over to the leather couch under the windows. His face fell when he realized the shiny cushions weren't dimpled with a dog sized impression any more. "Cap,  
uh.. Where's Henry?"

"Back home." Stanley laughed, brandishing a dripping ladle.  
"His real owner came to claim him sometime last year. And you'll never guess who that was..."

"Oh?" asked Roy, sipping his black coffee.

"Doc Coolidge came in one day to warm up a bit in between animal control calls and stopped dead in his tracks when he spied Ol' Henry on the cushions, wagging his tail at him." Hank said. "Coolidge opened his mouth in total shock and he said, 'I've wondered where he ran off to. We guessed the meat store tiger recovering at the shelter had most likely scared him off.' " Cap relayed.

Gage started laughing from under his white hat's brim and almost choked on his full mouthful of Folder's. "So Henry's been on the lam for six years from Coolidge? Gotta hand it to him, a firehouse makes a great hiding place. Oh, man. Did we have good times with Henry..." he said fondly,  
remembering.

"And not so good ones. I'll never forget the time Henry was caught in that field fire.." Stanley told them.

Memory stirred in all three of them instantly...

*  
From: "patti keiper" Date: Thu Aug 26, 2004 4:11 pm Subject: Straight from the...

(From Episode Thirteen, The White Engine)

Chet was peeling his air mask off, carrying Gage's unused medical gear to put it away, when his foot struck a heavy warm body.

It was Henry, lying completely still, covered in dark soot.

Kelly got on his radio immediately. "Cap, Gage! On the double! I found Henry! He's down! Bottom of the hill along the stokes line."

Chet lifted up a leg and felt the dog's stomach for signs of movement and found only a weak rocking as Henry tried to breathe. Reaching down into the dog's mouth, Chet hooked Henry's tongue clear with a gloved finger until he got it hanging out between his teeth.

Henry whimpered, choking on mucous. But then he woke up.

"Easy, boy. It's ok, I'm right here." Chet whispered, kneeling by Henry's face. "Stay down, boy. Stay still." he said, holding Henry's singed muzzle. Kelly glanced down and saw Stevie's inhaler next to Henry's shivering front paws. "You found this boy? Good dog. I'll be sure Johnny and Roy get it just as soon as you're squared away yourself."

Henry tried to wag his tail.

Chet took off his coat and covered up the nearly smoke suffocated station mascot. "It's ok. You're gonna be fine, Henry.."

Johnny Gage and Cap pounded down the hill along the climbing rope with the O2 apparatus held between them for leverage.

Kelly shouted. "Over here!"

Johnny knelt quickly, taking Henry's muzzle between his hands in a precautionary move to protect himself from a bite. "Did he fall?"

"I don't think so. Man, he went back for those kids," Chet sobbed, "..and this.." he said, holding out the little boy's tooth indented inhaler.

Gage ran careful hands over Henry's coat, looking for liquid. "He's not burned at all. I think that smell is just his hair. Cap, you got him?"

"Yeah." Hank said gently, taking over the hold on Henry's head.

Kelly said. "He wasn't breathing too well when I got here. Tongue was in the way."

Cap nodded. "Johnny.... think we can move him?"

"Yeah.. I'm not a vet, but he's not tensing up anywhere with me touching him like this. I think he's ok trauma wise. Sounds like his only problem is the smoke he took in. I think you can let go,  
Cap."

Hank did so, exchanging his hands grip for a valve mask on high flow over Henry's muzzle. He looked up. "Kelly, Roy's ready to transport the boy. Go drive him in."

"But Cap.. I wanna stay with H--"

"That wasn't a request, Chet. Johnny and I'll handle Henry and the little girl. Now, go.." Cap said, tossing Kelly the medicated inhaler Henry had carried.

Chet went.

Captain Stone came running down the hill with a short board, passing Kelly going the other way. "I heard. Is he ok?"

"He will be if we can get some good air in him and warm him up some." Gage admitted with a grin.  
"We'll take him to the V-E-T-S once we have that done.  
Thanks for the doggy stretcher.." he smiled, taking the kendrick board from Stone.

The three firemen slid Henry onto the board and strapped him in for the trip up the hill. Cap followed keeping the O2 mask nearby for Henry to use while he slowly woke up.

At the top, Becky met them, sitting next to Mike Stoker.  
"There he is! Our superhero dog! Is he ok?" as they set him on the ground, freed him off the board, and wrapped him up in thermal sheets for insulation.

"He'll be just fine, little miss. Although right now, I'm afraid he's got the same problem you do." Johnny said. "You both've more smoke than air in your lungs then what's actually good for ya so before we get to see a doctor and the vets, you both are gonna clean some of that bad stuff out of there, ok.?"

"Ok.." agreed Becky, brushing the hair away from her face and the nasal cannula she was wearing.

Cap held Henry personally in his lap when Captain Stone volunteered to take over the clean up detail on the house.  
"Stoker, we'll give them five on this O2 and then we'll take them in with the engine. We'll relay the girls vitals via radio patch. Marco, get us set to travel."

"Right, Cap."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the trip in, Henry suddenly went limp two minutes away from Rampart.

Marco tried to keep the commotion up front in the cab away from Becky's notice as his crewmates hustled to help him.

"Are we almost there yet?" she asked Lopez.

Marco was watching what Cap and Johnny were doing with Henry so closely, that he almost didn't hear her. "Hmm? Oh.  
We've a block to go. We'll be pulling up to the ambulance entrance. Can you see that door yet?" he asked the child.

Becky plastered her eyes and nose and cannula against the glass, peering out. "Not yet.."

Lopez thought. ::Please Henry. Don't be dead. Not yet.::

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roy was hanging around Dixie's desk when Lopez and Stoker appeared around the corner with a devastated look on their faces.

Chet Kelly ran over to them instantly. "How's Henry?"

"He's out cold. Happened a minute ago. It's something past the smoke inhalation. Cap's with him now."

"Where's Johnny?" Roy asked quietly.

"He's with his patient in room three. You know he can't leave a victim until a doc gets there."

"Show me. Maybe I can do something.." DeSoto said.

Dixie, at her desk, overheard them. She followed the sooty firemen to the emergency entrance doors and out into the driveway beyond.

Her heart just about broke when she saw Captain Stanley trying to ventilate the limp basset hound stretched out on an empty gurney with a mask two sizes too big.  
She snatched up a pediatric sized resuscitation kit from a crash cart and tossed it to Roy. "Roy! I'll make a few phone calls! The doc at the animal shelter still has a link set up tied to our base station."

"Through the HT this time? That'll work." DeSoto nodded and he threw his handy talkie on the bed, tearing open the airway adjunct bag as the doors shut between them.

The firemen experimented and a baby ambu with hastily wrapped bandage tape around Henry's muzzle created a good enough seal for them to finally pump in oxygen. Henry's gums began to pink up once more.  
Roy could still feel a pulse in the artery at the point inside Henry's rear thigh. But it was irregular. "What?" he said aloud. "That can't be." he sighed, as it thudded erratically against his thumb.

Cap noticed, looking up from Marco who was bagging Henry carefully. "What's the problem?"

Kelly looked scared. "What is it?"

Roy swallowed, "I think Henry might be having a heart attack."

From : Champagne Scott Sent : Friday, August 27, 2004 7:09 PM Subject : Fast Times at Rampart Base : The Dog Day Afternoon

Dixie McCall made the fastest phone call of her life.  
And then she glared the fiercest that she had ever glared at the back of Kel Brackett's head. He was just completing an in house phone call with the new resident assigned to the paramedic base station. ::Boy, I sure wish Joe could've been here or I wouldn't have found myself in such a ridiculous bind!::

Dr. Brackett finally rubbed the back of his head in sympathetic heebee jeebies. He turned to find the source of his chills.  
"Oh, no.." he moaned in warning at Dixie who was already batting her eyes diplomatically. "What are you up to now?  
I've lunch in five minutes."

"Nothing much." Dix demurred. "A single phone call. Just take it. Here." she said passing over the phone to Kel without meeting his eyes.

Kel took it as if it were a live rattlesnake. "Kel Brackett, Cardiology."  
he said into the receiver.

##Doctor Kel Brackett! Land sakes! Am I glad it was YOU that sweet young nurse found milling about the place. Now let's get down to business, shall we?## said the voice on the other end of the phone.

Kel buried the red phone line on his shoulder. "Dix who the h*ll is this? His voice sounds familiar, but I can't place him."

"That's Barney Coolidge. Don't you remember? Bah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-hhhh."  
she said in a fair imitation of a Pygmy African wild goat.

Kel shuddered as the sound sent chills up and down his arms as the memory speared home in recollection. "You didn't.." he warned.  
"I thought I told you I'd tender a three day suspension on anyone on the staff, including you, who brings the next animal of any kind into my hospital's emergency ward!"

Dixie didn't ruffle one iota. "There aren't any animals in here. I didn't break any rules. I followed your stipulations to the letter."

"Good."

"Henry's not inside, he's outside on a gurney being barely kept alive by ambu."

Kel Brackett's face scowled into pure steel and he ground his perfectly white teeth together. Already, the eggs from breakfast decided to sit like stones in his stomach. "Dixie. Now cut it out."

She cleared her throat, tapping her foot and calmly indicated the live phone on Kel's neck. Soon, Dr. Brackett's better sense of decorum among peer level colleagues finally won out over letting loose one of his legendary tantrums. "I'll deal with you later.." he promised voicelessly to his conniving head nurse, who hardly fought to keep a smile of triumph off of her face.

Kel picked up the chatting phone and said falsely cheerful, "Ah, Doc Coolidge. What can I do for you this fine day?"

Dixie smacked him on the arm for interjecting sarcasm.  
Then she rapidly kicked on the speaker phone to keep Kel at bay with civility as the conversation included any nearby overhearing sets of ears.

Dr. Brackett glared again at Dixie but stayed silent verbally when Barney realized that he had the cardiologist's attention back.

Coolidge gushed his needs. ##We've got to hurry. Now dogs don't have myocardial infarcts in the same sense that people do. They simply don't live long enough, even with their all meat diets, to build up the necessary plaques to cause one. Besides they all have collateral circulation of the coronary arteries..## he bubbled, ##..which allow the clots to "go around" an occlusion that would cause an MI in a human being. No, most likely this basset hound is suffering something congenital brought out by his sudden exposure to that fire smoke. Now what have you found, doctor, vitals wise?##

Kel stabbed down the speaker button until it clicked off back into phone mode and he parked it once more onto a muffling shoulder. "Dix, how much haven't you told him? I'm not going to look at that dog now, later,  
next week, or even next year! I'm a busy man ! And a hungry one who's over five minutes late for his lunch hour." and he turned to leave, forgetting about the phone.

Dixie caught the receiver as it slipped off its precarious perch.  
"Kel, This isn't just a dog in need. This is Roy and Johnny's stationhouse dog. Their beloved mascot. And he just saved the life of that asthma case you just saw in Treatment Two. Along with three other children's lives. Now he deserves a fighting chance! If you won't treat Henry right this instant, I'll find Stan the new resident intern and ask him to take over." She slammed a hand down on the transfer button which sent the connection from the animal shelter onto the HT frequency monitor board. Then she hefted up a handy talkie reserved for mobile communications meaningfully.

Kel Brackett stopped her. "I'm the senior physician here! No one is going to tell one of my residents to do anything." he groused.  
"I forbid you to do it, Nurse." he threatened.

Dixie's eyes flamed. "Ok. Shoo! Go on. Leave now for the cafeteria. I dare you.  
Bon appetit. I hope your meal sits well after you're done cause later you're gonna hear six full grown firefighters bawl like babies when their favorite mascot dies for want of decent medical care a hundred feet away from one of the best cardiologists this hospital has ever seen!" she hissed.

Kel's face twitched and his rage immediately simmered to non existence.  
He growled and snatched away the live radio from Dixie's hand.  
"Coolidge. Stand by. I'm going to talk to a paramedic who's been with the dog right now."

##Roger that, we're standing by. Both Laura and I.## Barney beamed through the channel.

Brackett sighed like a steam engine and bowled over half a dozen slow staff members as he moodily plowed out the emergency entrance doors as fast as his legs could carry him.

Roy DeSoto and the other firefighters stood shell shocked and rigid and there was only the sound of the hissing ambu working for Henry evident after Kel's stormy appearance. They all froze, locked eye to eye, in anticipation of Kel Brackett's wrath.

The blond paramedic licked dry lips. "Uh, hi doc. I got this Mayfair all set up. Dix thought of i--- Uh... Let's see... I assume any care will fall around pediatric cardiac standards. I got alligator clips for the EKG monitor since pads won't work,..a-a-and plenty of defib gel so a signal can get through Henry's...thick.....coat hair.." he trailed off as Kel Brackett's face twitched again as he took in the expressions of all of Station 51's men who were partially blocking his ambulance entrance with an obscene white fire engine.

"Dix.. " he finally sputtered. "This is absolutely.. the last time I ever-" he began.

"It sure is.." McCall peeped. "Thanks a bunch."  
"Here, doc. I got the paddles ready so you can get a quick look for the doc." Roy said.  
"He's ventilating well, doc. No aspirating." said Hank.  
"Starting to twitch in his tail even.." piped up Chet.

Brackett's voice rose in a level above the babble.  
"Everybody just... ShhhHHHHH! "

Everybody hushed. Except for Marco, who was being Henry's lungs. He kept counting.

"Get him inside here. And close the doors before anybody sees us.  
Roy, in with me. And get Gage in here, too, from that treatment room. Stat." ordered Kel, embarrassed when gawkers saw the patient wasn't a child needing a fast unload from the parked ambulance.

"I'll handle that.." said Dixie, dashing back through the automatic doors.  
As she sidled past, she landed a wet grateful peck on Brackett's nearest cheek in gratitude. "I love you, Kel. Dinner tonight's on me!" she squealed,  
slamming the ambulance door in his face after she clambered out of the Mayfair.

##Doctor. Speak to me.." commanded Coolidge's voice over the HT.  
"We haven't much time to play with from what I've heard.## came the disembodied voice from the speaker.

"I'm here, Doctor Coolidge. What should I do first?" Kel asked over the radio.

Roy stood by with his, as a backup source of information.

##Get me an EKG over the biophone. Now I know it already works,  
since you got one off little William the goat just fine last year#  
said Coolidge.

Kel's face twitched again as he remembered his acute embarrassment over the biophone when Johnny Gage had told him who the patient was during that little fiasco.

Roy's face flushed crimson.

But Doc Coolidge caught none of the theatrics. ##Now from right lateral recumbancy, place the monitor clips on elbows and knees. Put the negative on the right arm, the positive on the left arm and both commons on both legs. Got that?##

"Second nature, Coolidge. Same as a small child's."

##Right you are!## Barney said. ##We'll get him squared away yet.  
Now, send me a strip. I have a few theories as to what's ailing him and I need your help to help me rule em out. Oh, and if he loses that inguinal pulse, have your defibrillator there set to 200 J's at the initial, then go to 300, then 360 stacked if necessary ok? The cardiac meds are the same with lidocaine, epi and atropine. Just use a two year old's dosages in a Ringer's IV.##

"Roy, got that?" Kel barked.

"Already on it." DeSoto replied. He hefted his talkie. "Doc.  
Ringer's IV? How much to run in on the onset?"

##Best place for a puncture is the cephalic vein, top of the foreleg halfway up. 200 mls for starters. I don't know if Henry's been pulmonarily challenged.##

"His chest is clear." Kel said, listening to the still basset's sooty ribcage.

##Fine. Fine. All the better.##Barney dabbled over the radio.  
##Now.. what's your strip showing on your people zapper?##

Brackett's eyes rolled up at the reference. But he dutifully applied globs of conductive gel over Henry's shoulder and haunch and set down the paddle rims over his body. "I'm reading some wide or tall P-waves; wide or increased amplitude QRS complexes and a few short-coupled PVC's with frequent ectopics. Hear them?"

The monitor gave a fluting bell every time the comatose basset's heart skipped a contraction.

##Umm hm. I'm getting the same thing over here. Doctor Brackett, listen close.  
I'm trying to narrow down the field of cardiac problem candidates for Henry by being certain there's no chance of these three possibilities:  
an atrial tumor, that's hemangiosarcoma to you Dr. Brackett, an electrolyte imbalance, such as hypokalemia from breathing so poorly during the fire, or a splenic tumor to get to my original suspicion of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. That's fairly common in middle aged males such as Henry.##

"What's that?" Chet said from the ambulance driver peep window.

Coolidge heard. ##It refers to a recurrent or persistent arrhythmia in the setting of a normal left ventricular ejection fraction or an irregularity in how Henry's heart pumps oxygenated blood out to the rest of his body.##

"Oh, I get it." Marco said as he checked the flow of oxygen to Henry's ambu tubing from the port in the ambulance's wall.

Cap was hunched as small as he could be at the foot of the cot where Henry lay. "Want me to take over, Lopez?"

"Sure, my hand's cramping." Marco said.

Cap and he traded places at Henry's head.

Kel and Coolidge were oblivious to anything else around them.

Barney leaned into the radio speaker. ##Doctor, have your paramedic begin treatment with a bit of nitroglycerin paste under the tongue.  
Works wonders without the risks of Lidocaine. Oh, and have him wear some obstetrical gloves administering it or he'll drop into a faint when the medication bottoms out his blood pressure.##

"He knows." Kel said grinning.

##Let me know when it's been done. I wanna look at how Henry's EKG responds.## said Barney the shelter vet.

Everyone held their breaths as Roy shoved in some nitro paste around a hole in the tape wrapping Henry's muzzle with a cotton swab.

Everybody jumped when the rear doors flew open and Johnny Gage climbed into an already crowded Mayfair patient's cab. "How's he doing?"

"Got a pulse."  
"Not breathing."  
"Ruling out trauma specific cardiac injury." said Roy, Cap and Brackett respectfully.

"Ok. Gimme.." he said to Cap, taking over Henry's airway care.

Hank sat back down onto his butt, sliding his helmet off onto his lap and he just watched, biting his lip.

Kel continued his conference with the shelter vet. "Want a central line in to get a working blood pressure?"

##Nope. Won't help. There's already been some neurohormonal cytokines activation going on because of Henry's myocardial failure and continued limited cardiac output. The EKG's pointing to that.##

"I concur. Just wanted to see if your angle agrees with mine." Brackett agreed. "How about initiating some cardioprotection at this stage of the game while we're waiting for that nitro to kick in."

##Sounds good to me. Get him armored while he's still ticking. I recommend sotalol as a beta blocker to control Henry's tachyarrythmias. 10- 20 mg by mouth every twelve hours...## said Barney.

"But he's still unresponsive.." Kel reasoned over the radio.

##That's no obstacle...## Coolidge's voice bubbled. ##We'll use procainamide, in through his IV, in conjunction with that oral. Have someone inject half a mil for now. Slowly. Titrate it gradually after the sotalol's fully dissolved orally. We're doing so non push, because that beta blocker is a negative inotropic. Don't want to cause Henry to go into sudden death, now do we? He's fought so hard today to make it to nap time.##

The firemen around Brackett chuckled.

##Don't be shy about giving Henry some taurine, Dr. Brackett. Its lack can sometimes bring on ACM. Especially in dogs of the couch potato variety as these boys say Henry is.## Coolidge chuckled.

"I'm on it." Dr. Brackett grinned, injecting the vitamin into Henry's I.V. line.

A minute later, all medications were delivered and the alarming bleeps warning of PVC runs faded away.

"I think it's working, doc." Roy said, eyeing the monitor.  
"Henry's beginning to breathe again on his own. Listen."

Brackett did, tapping Henry on the eyelid to see if he blinked.  
He did, slightly. And then he yawned, craving more 02 as his metabolism sped up.

Johnny removed the rest of the encircling tape and left the oxygen tube near Henry's nostrils after he disconnected the ambu bag from it.

"Atta boy. Come back to us." he said, rubbing Henry's coat and head briskly. His ministrations rewarded him with a moan of anxiety as Henry muzzily came to. He was aware enough to make a face at the bad tasting medication in his mouth.

"He's gonna live!!" crowed Chet Kelly. "All right! I'll radio Station Eight's right now and give em the good news. And I'll tell Stoker to move Ivory off your door step, doc." The peek door between them snapped shut again.

The rest of the guys and both doctors celebrated. But Barney didn't for long.  
He grabbed Brackett's ear once more. ##Now for diagnostics, Dr.  
Brackett. We're going to need thoracic radiographs for his workup...##

"Chest Xrays?" Brackett said warily, knowing that no machine existed inside the Mayfair.

##Umm hmm and a packed cell volume test.##

"A CBC.." Kel said in affirmation, using his human terms.

##Yep..and we'll have to get good serum biochemistries to rule out congenital heart failure, thromboembolism or hidden complications in Henry's other internal organs. Oh, and an echocardiogram. I'll have to get an accurate fix on measuring Henry's true LV ejection fraction to map out future impact for a quality of life estimate for your fireboys after today's little misadventure. Least I can do for such a valiant mascot.##

"Doctor Coolidge..."

##Oh and we'll need more taurine to add as a nutriceutical into some new low salt food for him. If he's going to be responding with his crew on fire calls regularly, he'll have to get in tip top shape to prevent a repeat of this ACM crisis.##

"Doctor Coolidge!" Brackett stated more loudly.

##Yes, my boy?## came Barney's reply.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to draw the line with emergency treatment only here. My board of directors will have a hey day if I do anything more. I could be in serious trouble if any of them finds out I'm even doing what I'm doing now."

##Oh, I wasn't meaning for you to run the tests there..## said Coolidge on the handy talkie. ##You can transport Henry here to me so my staff and I can do it. After all, you're already conveniently inside of an ambulance.  
That was very clever of your ER nurse to think of doing that ahead of time.##

Brackett's ears began to steam.

"Doc, I know you skipped your lunch in order to help us out. " said Hank.  
"Tell you what, you've a very large, very loud, fire engine at your disposal to scatter any traffic out of your way going to the shelter and back again.  
Please stay and help us with Henry until Coolidge takes over. Deal?"

And he held out a sooty, grimy hand.

Brackett just stared at it, feeling very outmaneuvered and outnumbered.

'I'm coming along, too." said Dixie from the peek window. "I'm the designated driver of this outfit.." she said, wearing street clothes.  
"Hang on." and she flipped on the Mayfair's reds.

"Oh, no you're not." Kel boomed, immediately apologizing to the dog when Henry sat up in surprise. Henry bolted for Roy's arms while the others struggled to keep him from tangling his I.V.

"Oh, yes I can. My shift ended for the day five minutes ago." Dixie McCall stuck her tongue out at her now powerless superior. "So sit down,  
buckle in and play doctor quietly, Kel. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get back."

"You aren't authorized to drive a Mayfair!"

"Wanna bet? You authorized me as a field training nurse. The state says I can. Hang on.."

And they were off under the vanguard of the white engine. Stoker belligerently rendered the street clear before them with a healthy chorus of horn blasts and sirens.

From: "Roxy Dee" Date: Wed Sep 1, 2004 3:46 pm Subject: The Shriek Box~~

Johnny Gage came whistling into the kitchen area and helped himself to a hefty portion of Dale's Everything deep dish pizza which was Cap's meal offering for his turn at KP food detail. "Must be Thursday afternoon." he said to no one in particular, "I can set my watch by when the delivery guy come with these."

"Speak for yourself." Roy said, overhearing from his checkers match with Marco Lopez by the television table. "I'm getting so good at guessing time of day by activity that I can guess the actual minute by that pizza's physical temperature.." he bemoaned. "It's exactly 2:15 in the afternoon." he sniffed.

Gage huffed in amusement around a food stuffed cheek.  
"Huh, don't blame me for the slow week we've had. Blame dispatch and headquarters. They're so worried that we'll scuff up the crown jewel of the fire department that all we've been given is medical calls."

"I wouldn't say Ivory is the crown jewel of the department." said Stoker from where he was doing the dishes. "She's more like.  
a backup while we're waiting for Ol Red to finish up in the repair shop."

"Believe what you like. I'm just hoping you guys aren't bored and all with being support O2 and bandaid backups for Roy and I when we do get out of the station.." he emphasized.

"Thing's balance out, Gage. Give it time. It always does. " Hank said from where he was working on a miniature ship in a bottle model he was working on. "I don't know about you. But I'm enjoying the light week of duty. I haven't seen a stretch like this since Woodstock weekend."

The guys laughed.

"Well, at least we're getting in some good hobby time." Johnny decided.  
Then Gage suffered a bout of deja vu when he spied Chet Kelly bent with industry over the same pile of gadetry and wiring that he had been working upon on the day that Ivory the white engine had arrived.

Being sly, he walked slowly and silent past Kelly so he could get a good eyeful without being caught prying his nose into Chet's self professed secret invention again. Johnny spied a new device that looked for all the world like a mini handy talkie with a large red light attached to its face and a very long radio antennae, longer than what the Battalion Chiefs used on their high powered HTs at a fire scene.

Barely reining in an unbearable curiosity, Gage sidled away from the table to sit by Henry on the couch to check his remote EKG monitor on the harness he was wearing around his torso.  
The holster was about to send a cardiac reading to Doc Coolidge at the animal shelter.

Roy noticed and excused himself from his game. "I'll be right back, Marco. This'll only take a sec."

"Fine by me. I thought it was time for Henry's betablocker pill."

"Nah, that's at three. Forty five minutes from now." DeSoto clarified.

"Glad you're keeping Henry's rehab schedule straightened out in your head. I'm totally confused on what he needs and when still."  
Lopez complained with a smile.

"It's a paramedic thing, Marco. " said Johnny from where he was connecting Henry's canine EKG module to the new phone they had rigged on the magazine table by the brown leather couch. "To keep track of treatments and med deliveries. It kinda becomes second nature after a while. Though I'll admit, having Henry as a patient for this long's novel."  
he admitted.

Henry looked up and whuffled in excitement as he saw the two men moving to fuss over him again and he rolled over for a belly rub, making it hard for Roy to connect the phoneline feed to the transmitter.

"Hey you crazy hound.." Gage said, scrubbing Henry's ears.  
"Back onto your belly. Roy's trying to get you set here."

Chet fixed the problem by tossing Gage Henry's favorite huge rawhide bone without looking up from his busy project building.  
He announced its airborne trajectory with a whistle.

Gage barely caught the bone with which to lure Henry's attention.

"Thanks." Roy said when Johnny only glared back at Chet for the stunt.

The gray phone next to the couch rang. It was Barney, the shelter vet.  
DeSoto picked it up and set it onto the table while he plugged in the EKG wire from the readout into the module wired to the send only phone.

A few minutes later, the transmission of Henry's nightly cardiac record completed and Roy hung up the phone receiver again. "Hope the doc's happy with Henry's progress. I know I am. He's had no PVCs in four days now. I think he was right with that diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy on him. His heart's no longer acting like an M.I.'s."

Gage disconnected the holster wire from the phone and wrapped it up again into its bundle compartment on the side of Henry's EKG monitor harness. "He's eating fine, drinking even better. Heck he even went after a few of Stoker's ball tosses in the yard this morning, without getting out of breath even once." he said, playing tug of war with Henry and the bone.

Cap smiled from where he worked. "Of course he is. He's in the best paramedic firehouse in the whole county. I wouldn't expect any results less than perfect from my men on a medical patient that stable."  
he joked.

That brought up a question from Chet. "Hey Cap, are we getting billed at the station for Henry's Mayfair ride to the Animal Shelter last week?"

"Nope. Doc Coolidge found some dog loving sponsors at a local school to cover our costs. All it'll take is letting those kids visit Henry once he's back on a clean bill of health to get the money." Hank mentioned.

"Nice. How'd they hear about Henry getting sick?" Marco asked.

"One of the nurses walking by the ambulance that day saw us working on resuscitating him out in Rampart's driveway, took up the cause on her own through friends and relatives. And I believe that new medical resident you guys tangled with the day that old woman was burned was very instrumental in bailing our butts out of Henry's treatment bills, too."

"He was?" Gage said, surprised. "That's incredible."

"Yeah, Dixie McCall said that he felt guilty for being so new to answering calls at the base station that he wanted to make it up to us somehow for making us work her airway needs around him without an order." Captain Stanley related. "Miss McCall called and told me the whole story last night after we got back from that seizure call."

"And Brackett ok'd that?" Gage said, incredulously.

"Why not?" Roy smiled hugely. "Maybe that resident's on probation for endangering his patient and finding funds for Henry could've been Brackett's version of assigned community service as his unofficial penalty."

"Yeah? Well what about the official one?" Gage complained, remembering the risk he took that day acting as a paramedic first with Brice without a doctor.

"You know medical residents have immunity against incriminations for their first six months working solo. That old woman suffered no lasting ill effects." Roy reminded his partner.

"For that time, maybe." Gage interjected. "But what about the next time we get him on the biophone line?"

Roy shrugged. "We'll just have to repeat our findings. Twice if we have to,  
and...help him out. I've already talked to Brackett about having a senior physician standing by next to him when he does take another of our medical calls. So you can say that yes, I thought of you at the last paramedic's meeting, you know, the one you missed for having to stay here with Henry on his first night back from the animal shelter."

"Thanks." Gage said appreciatively. "Brice'll sure be a lot happier with that arrangement."

Right then the kitchen side door rang. Chet Kelly left his work table to go answer it.

Dixie McCall came into the station. She was dressed in earthtones and her hair was down.

All the gang rose to their feet.

"Hi Dixie.." Roy said. "What brings you out here?"

"Oh, I wanted to see my favorite mascot.. that's why.." she crooned,  
sitting down next to Henry and smooching his ecstatic freckled face deeply. "How are ya doing, baby?" she asked, holding his head.

Henry's tail thumped loudly on the couch cushions as he ate up the attention.

Then Dixie looked up at Roy and Johnny. "Got copies of Henry's latest EKG strips handy? Dr. Brackett admitted to me last week that he wanted to see how he's coping on Coolidge's rehabilitation plan."

"No kidding.." Hank said. "The way he grumbled last week, I didn't think Dr. Brackett cared a bit about him."

"Stand corrected, Captain Stanley. " Dixie demurred. "Kel's just a big softy at heart once he's been proven wrong about a patient. Even if that patient's cute, fuzzy and has big long floppy ears.." she said, smooching Henry's silky head loudly where it nestled on her lap in between her arms. "Oh, he's looking a lot better today." she crooned. She leaned over to look at the table side of the couch. "And you boys have stopped hoarding the spare defibrillator down here. Guess his cardiac readings are checking out?"  
she guessed.

"They sure are." Roy said. "We just sent today's reading in a few minutes ago."

"Well, I've got to go get to work. I only had a few minutes to spare."

"Here." Johnny said, scooping up the paper bag with Henry's old EKG strips in it. "Give these to Kel when you see him. We'll pick them back up again next rescue call."

"I'll do that. Thanks, fellas." Dixie said, leaving back out the side door and waving.

"Wow, Dixie came all the way out here from her apartment to see Ol Henry?" Gage said.

Chet quipped. "Yeah. Unlike some people I know, Henry's a real popular guy for a dog."

"Very funny. "Johnny said, squinting his eyes at Kelly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Captains Gage, DeSoto and Stanley laughed long and loud after their sharing of Henry's emergency medical call story.

"I don't know what got Brackett's goat more, William the African Pygmy kid with the patent ductus or Henry's heart attack."  
Gage giggled, playing with his white hat resting on the table.

"Is that a pun?" Stanley smiled. "Gee, a bonafide witticism.  
And I can't believe my ears that it actually came from Johnny Gage." he said, pulling off his glasses. He began to chew on the end of them thoughtfully.

Gage sputtered. "Well, I..." he said, confused, not getting it.

Roy rescued him.  
"He ages well, Cap. I really know. I've been spending all morning getting my feelers out on what his current personality changes are like. They're all good ones. He's almost mellow now."

"Cool." Hank said, "Uh, I mean... cold? Do your mugs need a warm up shot?" he said holding up the coffee pot as he covered quickly.

Johnny and Roy both lifted their cups. Gage was neatly fooled.

Hank finally turned off the burners on the stove, placed both bread and soup into the warming oven, and sat down into a kitchen chair in reverse Gage style. "Yeah.. we've been through a lot, haven't we?"

"Through good times..." Roy reminded him.

"And bad.." Gage said, sipping his coffee.

Captain Stanley sighed. "Was I really helpful? I mean.. did I really inspire you guys to follow in my tracks like this?" he said, picking up Gage's captain's hat to smooth out a few wrinkles. He began polishing the gold emblem on its front with the corner of his apron.

"Yeah. You really did." smiled Roy. "And I still remember the first time I realized what a great friend you were to me. It was the time I had my nervous breakdown.." he said, his voice growing soft as his expression grew thoughtful.

From : "Fran Catrair" Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] Mudslide Date : Thu, 19 Dec 2002 02:06:39 -0600

(From Episode Three- Juxtaposition)  
Johnny wordlessly looked out the window at the rain coming down around him. He glanced at his partner's grim expression and sighed quietly, looking back out the window. He was trying to think what Roy might be thinking. ::Kids okay...fight with Joanne?:: he wondered. Well, nothing he could do about it until after the call.

The squad's sirens continued to wail and Roy's face was almost unreadable. Until Cap's voice came out over the Station frequency. ##L.A., This is Engine 51. Is it known how many casualties might be involved?"##

"Roy, what's the matter?"

"Hmm?" Roy replied, still listening to the exchange between dispatch and their captain going over their radio.

The rain came down harder, making the road flood. Roy was forced to slow down and so did the engine behind them.

"What is it, Roy?" Johnny asked, more firmly this time.

Roy sighed and voiced his long held thoughts. "I've been having a feeling something bad was going to happen today. Just a feeling. My son was going to the Musuem of Natural History for a field trip today. They were to leave immediately this morning." Roy finished, his voice shaky and tapering slightly.

Johnny was stunned by the news. "Maybe it's not their bus, Roy. I mean, how many schools must be having field trips today?", he said, trying to take his partner's mind off the worst.

"It's them," Roy said, quietly. "It's them."

Sam's voice came over the radio. #Engine 51...casualties unknown at this time. CHP is on the scene.#

Caps' voice came very fast. ##10-4, L.A. Our ETA is..... four minutes..##

Roy skidded a little too fast around a turn and the squad shimmied around a corner and almost fishtailed before he regained control.

John said. "Want me to drive? We can radio in to the Engine.. Tell em why.."

Roy looked firmly at John and shook his head vehemently. His face screwed up in concentration, as he willed the squad to go on. At last, they could see the scene in the distance.

The yellow Blue Bird cab was fully on its side and along the margin. The front end was buried deeply in slag from the rain soaked hillside.

"Mudslide!!" Johnny said. "Roy.. can you tell. Is it the same bus?"

"I don't know. I don't know...." Roy said.

Cap's voice filtered firmly into them as they pulled just behind the rear of the bus, pulling up so the squad was acting as a buffering obstacle between the bus and oncoming traffic.

##Squad 51. Stay right where you are. And enter the scene from there. Stoker pull ahead to the car and those power lines. Looks like they're down. L.A. Cut power to the north side of the freeway overpass at mile marker seventy four!##

A fierce bolt of lightning shot down from the dim sky and the rain came down in torrents as Johnny and Roy ran out of the squad's cab for their gear and extrication equipment.

They ran for the nearest thing they could see,  
the back of the bus and the emergency exit there.

##10-4, 51.##, dispatch responded.

Johnny and Roy could see the bus was rocking slightly. They knew with the rain coming down and the mud, the bus could be buried deeper, and rapidly. They needed to act fast.

"Cap, we're gonna need the K-12.. Looks like the rear hatch is jammed in here real good!" Roy said. He desperately tried to wipe away the mud and steam on the windows, but he could see nothing of the interior.

Johnny began shouting. "Can anybody hear me?! Fire department!!"

Weak high pitched screams met their ears and a bloody palm impacted the window right by Johnny's face.. ::Oh my G*d.::

Right next to him, Roy flinched.

Roy was trying to clear away the debris from the hatch to place the K-12 when he saw it. Number 62. He looked at Johnny. "Number 62. It's his bus." he said.

Finally, Chet and Marco arrived with the K-12. They observed the tenseness of both paramedics.

"What's going on?" Chet demanded.

"Ohmyg*d, Johnny..".. Roy gasped. "I can't do this.." and he nearly fell to his knees.

Gage got on his HT. ##Cap! Stoker. On the double! We need man power now. Roy's kid is here!##

Chet opened his mouth and closed it, shocked. He and Marco quickly took the K-12 to the rear hatch. Both men had a look of determination on their faces. This rescue had become personal.

Captain Stanley ran, slipped and skidded in the mud until he grabbed the side of the bus to steady himself. "Gage, take over primary care triage. Roy, stay out here. And that's an order!"

Right then, the roar of water from a storm drain caved in a part of the road underneath the toppled bus and its side split open like a tin can, spilling a tiny body in a girl's skirt,  
onto the road and into the drain in a rush.....

Gage made a leap for the tiny feet but wasn't fast enough. Cap grabbed him first and said, "No!! Get a life line first! Now.. We don't know how deep it is in there!"

DeSoto ran for the squad to get one.

Roy sprinted to the right compartment, slipping and trying desperately to stay on his feet. Then he slid back to the back of the bus, wordlessly thrusting the lifelines at Cap and Johnny and tying one onto himself.

"Oh no! No!" Roy said, when the feet slipped again just as he grabbed for them. The tiny body disappeared in a rage of flooding brown water and was gone.

Johnny grabbed Roy's lifeline and secured it, proceeding back to the bus area. "Roy,  
there's nothing we can do! Get up! She's dead.."

From: Katherine Bird .uk Date: Wed Jan 15, 2003 12:10 am Subject: The Shell..

It was morning, and the day after the school bus rescue. A-shift slowly made their way into the kitchen for coffee after changing into their work clothes.

Cap was the first one to the steaming coffee pot.  
In his hands were the run sheet forms for the bus's incident. He placed them fanned out in the middle of the table top and placed the pot in their center so anyone reaching for it would have to see the forms before getting a cup filled.

Then he retreated to his recliner and the morning newspaper folded neatly there by C shift.

He intentionally didn't read the headlines which covered the bus crash and the journalist sensationalism about how many had died in the slide, moving on instead, to the sports pages.

-------------------------------------------

Johnny Gage rubbed feigned sleepy eyes and darted through the kitchen door, jostling with Chet in a vie for the coffee pot. Both firemen grabbed its black handle and Cap said,  
"When the fur stops flying over there, eyeball the papers you're not going to spill that coffee on.. Take a set and fill them out before lunchtime."

Johnny and Chet's amicable mood evaporated when they realized it was the bus run's mortality forms. Gage sighed glumly, "Right Cap, uh, we'll get right on these.. uh, do the investigators want to know complete details?"

"As best you can, Gage. And I know recalling back to yesterday isn't going to be pleasant. Just stick to positional details and what ya found."

Chet sat on the kitchen table and took a sip of his coffee, still lost in the sobering feel in the room,  
and poured Johnny's cup full after his own.  
"What's the point of an investigation, Cap? I mean, the guy who hit the bus was DOA."

Cap looked up uncomfortably."Its a suit against the city in an action concerning the mudslide.  
Negligience on the part of the highway department for not shoring up that canyon wall to withstand flooding."

"That craziness, Cap. Most of those..kids wer-" and Johnny's voice broke as a memory of the little girl who was swept away down the storm drain filtered into his mind. Gage fought the emotion out of his voice and continued.. "...most of those poor kids were gone even before the slide happened." Gage insisted. "Besides, that rainfall was abnormally high. Most inches an hour since the 1920's the Chief said.  
There's no cause for such a class action."

"I know that." Cap said. "But these kids's parents are grieving and you know how that goes. Any outlet's a channel for them."

Roy had entered the kitchen quietly, and he refused the third coffee mug Johnny offered him.  
"No thanks. " he said, sitting on the table next to Johnny. "Are we going to have to testify about those fatalities, Cap?"

Hank shrugged diffidently in the negative, "The Chief, this morning, just asked about our run sheets so far. No hearings in sight for any of us yet. I'll,...I'll..let you know as soon as I can about that.."

"Thanks.." Roy said softly.

Marco piped up. "Hey Roy, how's your boy? Is he ok? I didn't get to hear how he was doing after I left yesterday. Dixie refused to fill me in when she wheeled me out the back door."

Roy smiled a half hearted smile. "That's probably because she figured you already had a full plate concerning your own recovery. She most likely, didn't want ya to worry about anything else, Lopez."

"Since when does asking about something like that constitute being a burden?" Marco complained.

Johnny grinned. "Dix was only looking out for your best interests. Besides, I'll bet she called ya a few hours after you got home with the good news, didn't she?"

"Yeah." Marco said. "She did.. But mama said I was sleeping.."

"Dix did her job then." he grinned. "She made sure she got the news ya wanted." he concluded.

"Not soon enough.." Marco scoffed.

Roy thought about that remark thoughtfully and mumbled to himself. "It's never soon enough.." But no one else heard him.

Stoker pulled out a chair for Roy. "So,.."  
he said grandly.. "..don't keep us in suspense. Tell us how he is.."

The squeal of the chair's legs on the tile floor broke Roy out of his reverie and he blinked a few times. But his face stayed flat and almost emotionless.  
"Chris's gonna be fine. He came outta surgery with flying colors. His leg's gonna heal cleanly,  
and he's handling his best friend Carrie's death as well as can be expected..." he paused when the gang grew reflective for his benefit. "Joanne and I are just glad it's all over with.." Roy said, trying to grin, without confidence.  
"Chris goes home Friday once the drainage shunts are removed."

Cap noticed Roy's lack luster mannerisms.  
"You ok there, Roy?" he said, setting his paper down.

"Yeah, Cap.. I- I'm fine.. Just tired I guess."  
DeSoto replied.

Captain Stanley's gaze bore right into Roy's until Roy thought he was going to start fidgetting under their scrutiny. But finally, Hank sighed.  
"Ok, you know the support panel's there if you want to go talk to anyone sooner. I've got us all scheduled with the counselors for disaster debriefing this afternoon. The usual routine."

The rest of the gang cleared their throats and mumured uncomfortably. They all knew they needed to talk about the run as soon as they could, before its impact could effect any of them even more.

"Ok, Cap.." Then Roy noticed the last remaining Code F report form resting on the table. "Oh. I forgot.  
I'll get right on this.." he promised.

"Take your time.. These aren't due at Headquarters until six.." Hank said.

The kitchen fell into quiet as each of the gang filled out the grim details of facts and the actions they each had taken during the bus accident.

The tension was so thick, Henry started to whine at their concentrated silence.

Marco and Chet got up immediately and took their forms and donuts to the couch. Lopez took Henry into his lap and fed him a treat. Stoker faked stretched, without comment, studying his shoes.

"Can't hide anything from Henry, can we?"  
Johnny said to no one in particular.

"Nope. He's a hot dog who's a blood hound. What can we hide from a nose that big?"

And everyone laughed. Everyone except Roy.

"Say, Gage.."  
Kelly smacked Gage on the shoulder to get his attention from where he was carefully writing on his incident form.

"Oww, Kelly now cut that out. Now I'm going to have to start filling this out all over again."  
Johnny groused. Then he rubbed his arm.  
"That's a sore spot from yesterday."

"Sorry Gage. But listen.. I almost brought this up to DeSoto but he was too busy being a fidgetty father yesterday to pay me any attention."

"Gee. I wonder why? Kelly, just get to the point." Johnny said impatiently.

"Yeah, Chet. Get to the meat of it already." Marco said from his kitchen seat.

Kelly glanced up and suddenly noticed that everyone,  
including Cap, was paying close attention to him. He immediately got embarrassed.  
"Now, listen fellas. I just wanted to bring up a conversation with Johnny that was kinda private here, you know what I mean?"

Cap's eyebrows rose. "Fraid we don't. In it for an inch, in it for a mile, we figure. Right gang?  
Anything you need to say about work, we're entitled to know about, because we're just one big, close knit, happy outfit here, Kelly."

Gage and the others all agreed with animated nods and gestures.

"Speak for yourself, Cap! uh, I mean sir.."  
Kelly amended. He whined. "Oh, come on guys.  
For me..?" He sighed when no one looked away. "Ok, ok. I see I have no choice in the matter while I get an answer for myself. I see. Ok,.. all right. I'll just come right out and say it then.. Johnny, do you think I got the right stuff to make the coursework to become a paramedic?"

Johnny had been mentally smiling as vultures zoomed in on the summer of Chet's malcontent,  
but now, Gage nearly spit out the mouthful of coffee he had been swallowing. "What?! "

Babble followed instantly.  
"A medic, Chet?" Stoker parroted.  
"That's great, Chet.." Lopez said warmly.  
Cap's face animated in surprise. "Wow, that's news there, Kelly. What made you suddenly decide this?"  
Roy even perked up a little."Really?"

Chet tried to quell them all with shushes and self conscious hand waves. "Gimme a sec, gimme a second here. Let Johnny answer my question first, eh, guys? All right..? Then I'll let you have at it.."

Everyone obeyed instantly, all ears and expectant,  
as they all looked at Johnny.

Including Henry.

Gage cleared his throat uncomfortably inside the circle of faces surrounding his. "Uh, well.. Chet. You see, uh.. Wow, Gee. I don't know where to begin.." He started over on a different track. "You seem like a pretty good firefighter and I like working with ya and all. But quite frankly, I haven't actually, ever considered this idea before, you know.  
I think you'd--"

The alarm tones went off.

======================== ##Station 51. Possible drowning. L.A. Riverbed.  
One half mile north of Vadnais Heights Boulevard.  
One half mile north of Vadnais Heights Boulevard.  
Time out, 8: 02#

In the garage, Cap thumbed the response mike and replied. "This is station 51, 10-4. KMG 365."

And he threw on his turnout coat and beat a hasty pace to the LaFrance.

------------------------------------------------

On scene, a lone hiker, muddied despite the clear day, met them on the roadside margin. He seemed highly agitated. "Glad you got here so fast. Hurry.  
I couldn't get down there any closer. Uh, man.."  
he gasped.

"What do you got?"Cap fired at him as he stepped out of the truck's cab.

"Well, I couldn't believe what I was looking at.  
I couldn't believe my eyes at first." he panted.  
"I just couldn't believe it was really a--"  
The biker suddenly turned green and Johnny and Roy had to catch him when he stopped speaking and when his knees started to buckle.

"Whoa, whoa.. now take it easy. Hey. You feeling all right?" Johnny said. "Here, set him over against the squad." He and Roy and Cap managed to get the man sitting on the wet ground. Stoker went for the O2.

Gage said to Cap. "I got him. Looks like it's a syncopal episode. His pulse's normal."

"Cap, I'll go looking around. Maybe I can find out something.." Roy said, readjusting his helmet.

"You do that. Marco, Chet, go with him." Cap said.  
He pulled out his walkie talkie. "L.A. This is Engine 51. Send an ambulance to our location. We've a man down."

##10-4, 51. Time out 8:14.##

Marco, Chet and Roy headed into the brush rimming the man made channel of the L.A. river.

The bed was partially filled with a fast flow,  
and it was clogged with many many downed trees and debris from the flooding of the day before.

Then they spotted an orange hiker's pack and mountain bike and an abandoned CB radio lying on the ground.

"This is where he must have made our rescue call..." Roy said. "Let's assume he spotted something straight down from here." And he waved Chet and Marco along with him down the next decline.

They skidded over the slope of the final levee to the top of the drop off leading into the concrete river system and crawled on their bellies until they were able to see beyond down into the waterway.

Marco gasped.

A horribly mangled little girl lay twisted in the bows of a flooded eucalyptus tree with skin so dusky, that there was no doubt that the life signs in her had fled long ago.  
One arm was broken hideously over her head and the crushed torso was wearing a very familar set of school colors.

"Oh, my g*d. It's her.." Kelly heard from Roy.

"What?" Chet asked. "This is who, Roy?"  
he asked through a scrub bush, separating them.

But Roy just stood there, dropping his walkie talkie from limp fingers.

Chet and Marco didn't see him falter,  
still being partially hidden in the overgrown field.

"Come on, Marco. Let's get closer.."  
Kelly said, moments later.

Through the brush, Chet called out again as Marco and he struggled to get nearer the area where they saw the little girl's remains."Roy.. we need to know what you know." Kelly said over the roar of water. "There are parents somewhere out there looking for this little girl. If you know something we don't, y--"

They heard DeSoto sob a heart rending incomprehensible outburst, quickly followed by sudden violent retching. Kelly and Lopez heard the thud of something with weight, fall onto the dry reeds above the river, seconds later.

Kelly and Lopez turned from the water,  
not understanding for a moment. They both were shocked when they jogged back the way they had come to see Roy curled up into a ball on the ground. He was on his side, getting sick and trying to hide the fact that his stomach battle had been lost in what seemed to Chet, a pitiful way.

"Roy, pull yourself together man. It's ok.  
We'll just get her in a few when you're better and we'll just get the h*ll out of here.."  
Kelly said.

Lopez said. "I don't think this is just a grossing out, Chet. I mean, this is ROY. He never lets things like this bother him. Something's really not right here."

"You deal with it. I gotta let Cap know what's going on."  
Chet said defensively. His face was a mixture of worry, disgust and frustration. Kelly went to find some high ground to report to the engine crew.

Marco went to Roy's side and pulled him away from the soiling ground. He helped Roy kneel upright and Lopez held him while he continued to empty his stomach. His heaves were so violent, that his chin strap loosened and DeSoto's helmet flopped forward over his eyes.

Marco took off Roy's helmet and threw it some distance up the hill in frustration and anger over the second unexpected horror delivered to them yet again in as many days.  
He waited until Roy was through gagging, then he said. "Come on, Roy. Let's move away. We're too near the edge."

Kelly pulled out his HT. "Cap. We've got a Code F.  
It's a ... it's a ...kid from the bus rescue. Roy recognized her right away."

##Would you 10-9 that, Kelly? A Code F from yesterday?## Cap queried.

"That's affirmative, Cap. And she's retrievable."

There was a long silence. ##All right. Listen.  
This is first. Our hiker informant's a diabetic and the stress of his calling us out here has set off a metabolic crisis. Have Roy come up here.##

"Ah, Cap. That won't be possible."

##Kelly? What's the hold up?##

"Just get down here, Cap. On the double." Kelly said and he flicked the walkie talkie's speaker off, his face fighting powerful emotions.

-------------

Marco had gotten Roy's collar loose. He saw that DeSoto was no longer getting ill in the place Marco had guided him to away from the river's wall. But things were far from improving. Roy lay, pale and in denial, on his side, sobbing uncontrollably.

Lopez patted his shattered coworker on the shoulder. "It's ok. Just take it 'll take it from here. Your nausea passing?"

He got only a moaning half cry for a reply.

Lopez moved Roy's head to his knees to keep the sharp grassy brambles from cutting his face. "I know it. Just let it pass. You don't have to do anything right now."

Cap and Stoker came skidding through the undergrowth fully loaded with ropes, a metal grappling hook, and a small folded body bag between them.

They halted in shock at the sight of Roy, curled fetal, going to pieces.

Kelly and Marco didn't have to explain anything to them at all when Hank saw the little girl they had seen. His own face twisted in pain.

Cap crouched by Roy and added his own comforting hand to DeSoto's shoulder. "Easy, pal.  
You don't have to do this at all. We'll handle it.  
Marco, stay with him for a moment. "  
And he rose back onto his feet. Cap swallowed. He motioned to Mike.  
"Stoker, get her down from there." His eyes never left the dead child's place in the partially submerged tree. "We're not losing her again." and he handed off all his gear to the engineer. "Kelly, go back up the hill and help Johnny any way you can. You're taking over for Roy."

"R- Right.." and Chet bounded up the hill. "Roy, you get yourself together, ok.. You hear me.." he said as he disappeared. Chet stumbled once but then got to the highway a few seconds later.

After a notification to L.A. for a morgue team and the D.A.'s office, Cap shooed Marco off to help Stoker recover the tiny pitiful body.

Hank closed his eyes and made sure Roy didn't see their awkward retrieval using the hook either, by screening out DeSoto's sight of it with his captain's helmet.

It could have been ten minutes or ten years later to Stanley when it was finally done.

The morning sun was a little bit higher in the brilliant sky, a few minutes later. Hank began to speak quietly to his heart wounded friend, sharing a like story of when his own shell had finally cracked under strain in honor of a dead child's memory. It did little to lessen Roy's grief. He still shook, gasping like a fish, no longer able to voice sounds.  
Cap sighed compassionately and softly, he whispered. "Roy. We're all here for ya. It's ok. Just let it out." and he drew his senior crewman up into a hug.

Stanley let him cry for a long time.

Privately, Cap let down a shadow of his past grief.  
He allowed tears of his own to fill his chocolate eyes. Silently, unchecked, they fell onto his jacket, rolled off its hem, and into the L.A. river below.

-  
Gage looked up impatiently as Chet knelt where the hiker now lay. He was irritatedly biting the IV Dex bag covering off on the solution he had been ordered to give the downed hiker. "Here. Get this set up."  
he said thrusting the IV into Chet's hands.  
"Where'd you all go to? Took forever getting him to settle down. Fortunately, he's deep into diabetic crisis now and no longer seizing."

Kelly was quiet.

Johnny didn't even think to guess the reason why. He asked. "Where's Roy? We gotta get this man NPA intubated yesterday."And he began to take another hasty BP on their victim.

"He's not coming." Chet said, stringing the IV tubing and stabbing its port valve lance into the bag he had set between his knees.

"What do ya mean he's not coming?" Gage snapped.  
"We've got a major medical here. He oughta know any body we find's last priority." Johnny said, pulling the stethoscope out of his ears.

Chet held Johnny's hand that was holding the IV needle still for a moment, to get his full attention.  
"Johnny, Roy cracked. Cap's down there now deciding whether or not to stretcher him outta there."

"What?! Chet, you must be talking crazy..."

"Wish I was, Johnny boy. I hope to g*d I was.  
Anything,.. but the bad scene I just witnessed down there."

Gage fought mentally with himself, warring over his care of the hiker and his own desire to whip out his HT to demand of Cap how Roy was doing.  
He attempted to console himself with trying to peer over the side of the steep grassy embankment. The next words out of his mouth were barely audible.. "Is he awake?"

"What, ....this guy?" Chet asked, looking down,  
beginning to do a pain stimulus check.

Gage gripped his hand and stopped him.  
"No, I'm talking about Roy.."

"Oh. Yeah, he is. But he lost his breakfast,.. and maybe last night's dinner, too. Johnny, he's not even standing."

"Gonna get shocky." Gage mumbled to himself,  
suddenly redirected.

"Roy?"

"No, our victim here. Chet, pay attention."  
Gage said angrily. "This next step's gonna be tricky. Now lube this NPA down with the K-Jelly. I've already measured this to be the right size airway. And get that positive pressure handy.  
His lack of glucose is gonna knock out his respirations something fierce."

"Gage I don't know about this.." Chet said.  
"Maybe you'd better call in another sq-"

Johnny grabbed Chet by his jacket lapels and snatched him close until he was only inches away from his face.  
"You wanted to know if I thought you were medic material? Medic trainees follow orders INSTANTLY from their senior trainers and they never EVER second guess a medical order.  
I ordered you to prepare that NPA tube.  
Even told you how to do it. So do it! Now!" and he let his overcoat go.

"Geez, all right already. I'm just as worried about Roy as you are. No need to beat me up over it. You'll have ta tell me more on what to do here though. Been rocky ever since I've been ordered to take over to help ya in Roy's place."

Gage glared at him and arrowed his spent IV needle into free flight, not caring that the bloody thing whistled by only a centimeter from Chet's ear as it clattered home into the drug box's waste needle catch bin.  
"You've got thirty seconds.. I'm not repeating myself."

"Ah,, Ok.. ok.. which side..?" Chet said,  
positioning the end of the soft nasopharyngeal airway near the hiker's nasal passages.

"Try the right side nare first. Don't force it."

Chet nimbly got it into place, doing all the right moves and techniques, sending the airway down flat, along the palate as it should have been done.

Johnny smiled, handing Chet the positive pressure mask. "See, you HAVE been watching us.  
You'll still have to keep his head back for a clear airway and be prepared to yank it out if he vomits."

"That much I remember Gage. What now?"  
Chet said. "He's breathing fine." he said, letting the man pull his own oxygen off the mask.

"What's his rate?" Gage said, adjusting the D5W flow into the man's veins.

"Ten, and slowing."

"You know to ventilate him if he slips below eight a minute?"

"Yeah."

"What's his color?" he said, drawing a blood vial for a glucose check, for Rampart.

Chet peeled away the man's oddly sunburned lips until he saw his gums. "Pink. Look Johnny.  
I could go back down there now and see how Roy's doing for ya you know. You are in charge of me up here.."

It was tempting but Johnny knew his responsibilities.  
"Nice try. But we're gonna have to trust the other guys' judgement on that. Roy's probably just reacting now because he didn't react yesterday.  
It's most likely no big deal."

"You didn't see him, Gage.." Chet said in the tiniest of voices. It was full of fear.

Johnny looked up, his attention full and frightened.

-  
Cap heard a voice call out. It was Stoker's.  
"Ready to move, Cap."

It must have been some minutes later, for when Hank blinked, he saw the black body bag nestled in a scoop stokes that Marco had retrieved from the engine. The bundle was already tied and rope tethered for a hill climb back up to the roadway.

Roy, was now some feet away, dry eyed, sitting and hugging his knees to his chest, with his back to the body, staring out at the brightly sunlit flowing river bed below.

"Stoker, you and Lopez go on ahead. Have Johnny go on alone in the ambulance with the hiker if you have to and tell Chet to take in the squad. Roy's coming with us." Hank told Mike. "But, you're giving us two, a minute or so alone. Get me only if Johnny needs another rescue squad to finish the transport, and when you're done picking up after yourselves.  
Tell the detectives whatever they need to know. I'm out of service for a bit. Understood?"

"Right, Cap." and the dry crackle of the grass told Stanley that the grisly trip up had begun. Soon, even that soft rustling faded away.

The ambulance came, then went, with the squad behind it. Soon, even those sounds fell into the distance too. Not long after, the mortuary wagon and an unmarked detective car pulled up, to take away the child's body and to learn the information necessary for the bus investigation from Marco and Stoker.

Hank's talkie came to life. ##Engine 51, to HT 51.  
All the gear's stowed. Want us to put the Engine available?"##

Hank lifted up his talkie and said. "When we're base bound, Engine 51."

##10-4, HT 51.## came Lopez's reply. And the station frequency fell silent.

Rubbing his mouth, Cap could see Mike and Marco watching them from where they sat in the idling engine cab, waiting. He flashed them an okay sign without radioing back. He saw them visibly relax.

Cap sat by Roy, not directly looking at him, as he took in the same spectacular view of the valley over the concrete river bed that Roy seemed to be looking at. He took in a deep breath of the canyon's sweet, spicy air. "Hear that, Roy? The birds are still singing..."

Roy swung red, swollen eyes towards him. "Hear what, Cap? All I hear are the sounds of all those school kids, screaming, as that hill came down on top of them. I just wanna know why it had to happen. That's all.  
Is that too much for a guy to ask for?"  
But Roy didn't cry again. His face remained only dusty and flushed.

Cap handed DeSoto back his helmet and slowly put on his own. "Come on, let's go."  
he said, grabbing a hold of Roy's gloved hand to pull him to his feet. "We'll take the engine home."

DeSoto clasped Cap's dirty hand numbly,  
and then used its strong steady leverage until he stood. Cap watched Roy put on his helmet only after he seemed to contemplate the purpose for which it served, for long, unseeing moments. Then he saw Roy sigh a lengthy quavering breath. Roy's face was now a little less pale but his voice was weaker than a baby's.  
He murmured. "Yeah. Let's get outta here."

Cap, threw a stokes blanket around Roy's shoulders and together, they went up the hill to the road.

Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 10:34:05 -0800 (PST) From: "Patti or Jeff or Cassidy" Subject: Come Uppance...

It was four hours after the L.A. river call.

Marco Lopez looked up from where he was dishing out chow for Henry. The longish hound was snuffling excitedly as the Rival can of dog food filled his chrome dish. All the guys were watching him get worked up. And some of them even had their fingers crossed for luck while Marco finished.

Stoker, ignoring their "sport", was the first to see Cap enter the kitchen. "How's he doing, Cap?"

"Roy? Still resting. I did order him to take a nap. And yes, I explained to Joanne what happened and then called the crisis counselor just a few minutes ago. She's coming for a station visit, and she's towing along Roy's wife. They'll one to one with him first and then we'll get our session over dinner as planned." Hank announced. He knelt and petted Henry as the dog licked his lips in anticipation of supper.

"That's good. Maybe ..having Joanne around will help Roy get back his equilibrium." Kelly said thoughtfully, arching his balled up snack napkin into a wide shot for the trash bin. It landed perfectly.

"I know it will." Cap said empathetically, rubbing some dust out of his nose.

The gang fell to the moment as the salty scent of horsemeat filled the air. "Do it Lopez.." Stoker said with anticipation. "This time it's gotta work."

Marco carefully set down the dish gingerly, as if jarring it would cause Henry to lose interest.  
"There you go, Henry. Dive in."

The slowish hound looked up, licked Marco's face,  
jumped down from the leather couch, almost on top of the food bowl, and then he kept right on truckin forward and straight out the kitchen door.

"Hey, where are you going ya crazy mutt?!" Kelly said from where he was sipping coffee at the kitchen table. "What a schmo...Geez, that's two cans of grub now, slated for the trash can.."

Hank only chuckled. "You forgot Henry's a true station dog there, Kelly." Cap grinned. "Can't you see he's making a house call? It's more important than food to him."

"Yeah, Chet. He does it all the time whenever one of us is feeling out of it." Marco said, retucking his shirt in around his belt. He had just come out of the shower.

Johnny neatly rose to his feet, abandoning his coffee mug. "That's my cue.. Excuse me guys. I'm right on Henry's angle.." and Gage, too, exited the kitchen for the bunk dorms. On a second thought,  
he grabbed a couple of donuts on the way out,  
one for him and a second one for Roy.

Gage noticed that Cap had pulled all the shades down around Roy's bunk and had even set a water pitcher on the desk tabletop with a paper already opened to the horse racing section next to it.

Gage smiled when he heard Roy stir in his sheets to play with Henry. Respectfully, he knocked on the wooden doorframe first before he entered the room further. "Roy?"

"Yeah, Johnny. I'm awake.." his partner said.  
"Didn't anybody feed Henry yet? He's acting like he wants his bowl now."

Gage walked into the room and grabbed the chair from the desk, inverted it, and straddled it to sit. "Now, Roy, you know Henry won't eat for anyone else but you. And we're dumb enough to keep forgetting that. He turned his finicky nose up again at Marco just a minute ago when he opened a can right under his face. You sure got a way with dogs."

Roy's face unexpectedly fell at Johnny's comment.  
and he stopped petting Henry's broad back.  
"Yeah, well. I wish I had a way with children right about now. Lately my luck's been running kinda dry."

Johnny scoffed gently. "Now what's that supposed to mean? You got two wonderful kids who're incredibly proud to call ya dad. You got a beautiful wife.  
That's more than what I got. What more can a man want?"

"To turn back the clock for starters. How about turning it back about..oh,...forty eight hours or so.  
Then I'd truly be a happy man, Johnny." Roy said, with a groan. He flopped back onto his back and drew his sheets up to his chest as if chilled suddenly in his T shirt and boxers.

"Roy, cut it out. You shouldn't be ashamed of your emotions. What happened out there today,  
happens to all of us. H*ll, Cap's been there. He just told us when and why over coffee a few minutes ago. And I bet if we took a poll, we'd find that there isn't a single guy on the rosters who hasn't been in the same shoes you wore this morning." Johnny said. "I'm not immune either. I've been there.  
Remember? I lost it only two weeks into the paramedic program.."

Roy regarded Gage quietly for long seconds,  
"Not everyone, Johnny." A slight smile curled his lips, "What about Craig Brice?"  
"Oh, yeah.." Johnny chuckled. "Brice. Forgot about him. How can a man without sense of humor find something about our line of work that'll make him lose his lunch? Brice sure can't. He's an Iron Man." Johnny grumbled, answering his own question. "Maybe he should team up with Detello at ten's for a while and learn something about compassion." Johnny took a bite from his donut, then belated remembered that he had already bitten into the first one. Lamely, he offered the pastry to Roy.

DeSoto took it, and began offering the pieces wearing Johnny's tooth marks to the snuffling Henry who had sprawled his heavy weight across Roy's legs. "Here, buddy.  
Yeah, that's a good boy.." and he smacked Henry's hide loudly in affection. The rest, he popped into his mouth.

"Nausea finally gone?" Johnny asked.

Roy looked up, almost as if he had forgotten his partner was there. "Yeah, that anti-emetic you gave me worked." he said chewing slowly. "Who authorized that?"

"Joe Early. He knew what you had been up against yesterday. And understood the need for the hypo today."

"Does everybody know about ...what happened to me?"  
Roy asked quietly, caressing Henry's ear as the dog snoozed in his lap.

"Only those who care a whip about ya." Gage quipped.  
Then he leaned forward, lacing his fingers together.  
"Listen, Roy, so what if it took six years for you to finally crack on a call. Big deal. You're a human being. It means that you care.."

"Yeah, maybe I care a little too much." Roy said softly.

Johnny rubbed his mouth in frustration and then he got angry."Oh, boy, here we go again. You didn't make that driver hit the bus. You didn't cause that canyon wall to come caving in on us. And unless you're really Moses,  
I know you didn't cause that rain storm to flood us out like it did. So knock off the pity pit.  
A paramedic's GOT to have empathy. H*ll. You're the one who taught me that.." he sat back with exasperation.

Roy was silent for a time. Then he said.  
"I'm thinking about leaving the program Johnny. I really think I can't hack it any more."  
he pointed to the uniform that Cap had folded neatly on the dresser and said. "I really don't know if I can ever get myself to wear that uniform again. Ever. It now hurts too much.."  
and his lip quavered.

Johnny showed no sympathy.  
"You're just saying that. Now what would I do in a few months if Kelly kept good on his threat and suddenly became my new partner?"  
Johnny asked drily.

Roy finally smiled and laughed. "You two'd probably, most likely kill each other the first week out."

"There ya go.." Johnny said. "So don't leave me in that kind of spot. And quit talkin like that. You're just hurting, that's all. You're not disabled. A little time taken with the family will make it all right again."

"Now you're sounding like Cap." Roy said.

"Good, cause he's right. And that's what he said worked for him when he cracked over his own child call."

Roy sat up. "You know something Gage?"

"What..?" Gage said, curling Henry's tail and scratching its white furred tip until Henry picked up his head to see who was messing with it. Henry's tail started wagging when he saw who it was.

"You're right. M- Maybe that's all I'll need.  
A little time off. Just enough ta.. get my clear thinking back again and maybe I'll even find that sense of inner balance that I had before.. "  
he said, grinning.

"That's the ticket.." Johnny beamed, taking another bite out of his donut.

"No, wait a minute, I can't go on leave."

"Why not? You got enough vacation time coming to ya. As long as I've known ya, you've only been on vacation twice. Once to Santa Rosa with me, and the other time when you took Joanne and the kids to the f--" he broke off.

"You can say it, Johnny. Farm. I'm not mad at you over that any more. I mean who can control circumstance?"

"And that's it right there, Roy. On your coming days off, hold that thought and you think about it, real hard.." With that, Gage disappeared, leaving the rest of his donut abandoned on the bedspread.

Roy blinked, amazed that Johnny could move so fast. And that, in itself, made him think all the more about Roy DeSoto. Johnny's cool advice and Henry's warm tongue on his fingers, made him mull over what was really the most important thing going on in his life apart from his family.

Sighing, Roy picked up the donut and began doling out the correct pieces to the proper mouths. Then, feeling thirsty, he reached for the water container.

And a bit later, after a long tearful talk with the crisis counselor and Joanne,....

...Roy DeSoto reached for his uniform..

----------------------------------------------

Returning back to the present, all three ranked firemen realized that their stomachs were growling.

Captain Gage rose from his chair. "All right if I dig in?  
You guys can join me."

"Rank does have privileges.." Stanley agreed, holding up his chowder bowl. "Let's eat,... Cap." Hank teased.

Beside them, Roy DeSoto began to laugh wholeheartedly at the nickname used by Hank. "That sounds so... odd.  
coming from you." he admitted.

Soon, the trio were filling their stomachs while sharing current news and catching up with each other's past during the few years that had gone by following Gage and DeSoto's promotion.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Cap pouring Roy and Johnny coffee in the kitchen.

Photo: McConnikee with Hank, looking glum.

Photo: Roy and Johnny over soup, listening.

Photo: Roy holding a boy in a mudslide.

Photo: A school bus crash.

Photo: A body in a river.

Photo: Roy crying with Gage reassuring.

Photo: Chet tending an unconscious Henry.

Photo: Doc Coolidge, the animal shelter vet.

Photo: Brackett, Dix and the gang treating Henry in a Mayfair.

*Animation*: Sunlight reflecting off moving waves.

From : patti keiper  
Date: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:28 pm Subject: A Moment Of Weakness.  
Johnny burped loudly and pushed away his chowder bowl.

"Still that good, eh?" Hank chuckled.

"Nothing like home cooking. And this station still feels like home to the both of us."

"Sure does." said Roy, wearing a huge contented smile on his face.

"I know what you mean. And I guess 48's is still mine. And I haven't been doing much with them, except eyeballing the number on their trucks when they show up for our annual brush fire details, for alot of years now." Stanley admitted.

"Haven't you ever wanted to go back to those days?" DeSoto asked him, his face growing quiet and thoughtful as he leaned forward on his arms resting on the table around his meal.

Captain Stanley smiled ruefully and scratched his whitening temples. "Past missing familiar surroundings, sights and smells, I can't say the ties I had there were that memorable, Roy.  
Unlike what we had together, my first crewmates just worked as a team and got the job done. And it definitely wasn't a blessing that Dick Hammer followed me here to 51's when the time came.  
I lasted only a month before I transferred out to 24's. I was so upset that a man like that so abused the captain's spot, I vowed to learn to be a captain, too. Just so I could prove that I could be better at it than--" Hank broke off, realizing that he was sharing something private and deeply personal.

Roy and Johnny froze, not believing their ears at first. Then they registered the shock on Hank's face, his look forcing them to react.

Gage's expression faded from surprise, and he smiled in soft politeness. "Cap, that last thing you said,.. We know it slipped out. You don't have to say anything more about it. Some things are better left uns--"

Hank fell silent and he suddenly looked burdened while he studied the coffee grounds still clinging to the bottom of his empty coffee mug. "Well, not this time. Now you know why I was so worried about what Chief McConnikee would do to me for burning his hat. I didn't want to lose my new Cap's spot that I was using to show everybody what I could do before I lost confidence in myself and my abilities, for what I did to Hammer."

"Dick was a negative stimulus?" Gage asked, confused.

"No, actually. A twisted positive one. Sort of like what Brice was to you whenever he seemed to always come up smelling like roses." Stanley said, finally beginning to smile. "Hammer wasn't a bad man. He still isn't. But I still can't condone what he was doing in his final days with all of you behind your backs." Stanley sighed tiredly, almost whispering.

Now it was Roy and Johnny's turn to be disturbed. Finally, Roy spoke to fill the stretch of silence building between them. "Hank, what happened before you came back to Station 51? We never noticed anything different in Dick."

Gage amended. "Well, not that different anyway. I mean, there were changes. More time spent in his office.. The darker moods.." Then he turned to his old partner. "Roy, remember?"

DeSoto's face fell into old thoughts. "Kinda. Maybe...uh, it would help if we had something more to go on... Cap?"

Hank slowly put the cover onto the chowder pot, keeping it hot for the rest of the gang for when they came back inside for lunch after finishing the back yard chores. "Maybe I should start from the beginning.." he said, meeting both of their eyes sadly. "It seems you guys don't remember that particular event that he and I never, ever forgot."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another deep groaning rumble echoed through the abandoned building and rattled both trucks of Station 51 where they sat at the ready along the curbside.

Captain Dick Hammer knelt before the boy. "And you say your friend's still in there? How old is he?"

"Billy's eleven.." replied the dusty kid. "He got lost. We didn't mean to go inside."

Vince Howard frowned ruefully. "Didn't you see the orange signs posted on the doors about collapse danger? The whole building's condemned."

"We both bought good slingshots. We just had to try them out on all the rats." replied the city wise boy proudly.

Policeman Howard grabbed the plaster powdered kid by the arm. "They're fast enough to get out of way. And it seems, smarter, too. Didn't you realize something was wrong when you didn't find any of them running around inside?"

Behind them, a fourth story floor fell internally under the weight of the morning's rain, causing another cloud of dust to rise up into the mist.

"I didn't know..." sobbed the boy as the horrible din died away. His tears mingled with the raindrops running down his face.

"Let's just better hope your friend's in an open spot, or else you and both your mothers will never hear the end of it, coming from me!" Vince spat, disgusted with the bravado of the young. "Let's go call them now."

Feeling a wave of unaccountable dread, Dick directed a very freshly assigned Gage into DeSoto's shadow for the first scout into the old hulking department store. "Gang.. grab the portapower, first aid gear and radios. Stoker, it won't hurt to get the listening probe ready."

"Yes, Captain." Mike replied.

"Roy, Johnny, start scouting around. And be careful. I want life lines on the both of ya. Manned." Hammer ordered....

The scene faded out...

---------------------------------------------------

Back in the present, the three captains shifted in their chairs uncomfortably.

Gage looked up somberly. "I remember now. It was Hammer who finally found him and-- that kid.... he....didn't make it out alive....Right?"

Hank nodded minisculely. "That's how the chief explained it to me at the official inquisition later on. I was given all the rescue notes on it because I was called as a character witness for what happened a week afterward."

"How did that boy die?" Roy asked, still not remembering.

"Both of his lungs were ruptured." Stanley replied. "He wouldn't ventilate during CPR. You weren't there. You were called away for a bystander who fainted on the sidewalk who had been watching the rescue from across the street. A second ambulance was called and you had to go in with her."

Johnny's eyes grew blank. "Roy, Hammer didn't stay on scene. He insisted on riding along with me during that child's code. He ordered the others back to the station except for Marco, who followed your patient in with the squad since ours had basically d--" he broke off, suddenly putting two and two together.  
"Cap," he said, meeting Hank's troubled eyes. "What did you notice on Dick later that was so bad? Leaving charge of a fire crew's not an offense. Not for an active resuscitation attempt."

Stanley didn't look up. In fact, he looked nauseated. "Dick's got kids of his own. So does Roy, and...and..and me. Lord knows how finding a fatally mangled child would have effected me or any of us if things had been different.  
But it was Dick facing it back then. Alone..." he sighed. "One week following that death, my station and yours were called to a hotel fire. Dick asked me to go get his assignment slateboard he had forgotten to grab. I did so, for he was incident commander for the duration. Well, I.. went back to the engine, just like he asked, and I got the board for him." Hank told them matter of factly. But then his eyes clouded. "But when I slammed the door shut again, I heard a tinkling of something made of glass, spinning around on the floor under his seat. I..I...well I, just couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled out a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels into my glove."

Gage and Roy both startled. "He was drinking on the job?"

"Yeah. And a random chief appointed spot check from the cops on another call later proved that he still had alcohol in his blood while on active duty. I had to turn him in. For any command decision he made for you guys while under the influence could have proven to be a wrong one." Stanley shared miserably. Roy whispered. "You were protecting us."

Hank rubbed his face. "Then why do I still feel guilty about it? Guys, I ruined that man's career. The department made him retire for unresolved job stress effects."

"You did what you had to do." DeSoto emphasized.

"It was by the book." Gage agreed.

Stanley sighed, looking haunted.  
"I don't know why the crisis counselors weren't effective that particular time for Dick. And he still doesn't know it was me who discovered his newly formed dependency problem. You guys probably just saw his increased cigarette smoking."

Johnny nodded, still serious. "How's he doing now?"

"Dick's back participating in sports, like he used to when he was part of the Olympics. And he's not an alcoholic anymore." Stanley said. But he couldn't find it in himself to smile at the outcome.  
"Thank G*d his kids still think he's a hero."

--------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Dick Hammer in his inspection Captain's hat.

Photo: Cap holding a clam chowder pot.

Photo: Roy and Hammer working inside a derelict building in turnouts.

Photo: A man's fingers feeling for a coratid pulse on a child.

Photo: Gage holding a dead child, Hammer holding child's head.

Photo: Captain Dick Hammer looking stressed in his skunk striped helmet.

Photo: Captain Stanley looking worn, eating.

Photo: Roy and Johnny smiling over soup bowls at Station 51.

*  
From: patti keiper Date: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:46 pm Subject: Carbon Copies.. In his darkened Intensive Care Room, Kel Brackett finally let the sedatives they had pumped into his system take full hold. Slowly, the sound of the myriads of monitors keeping tabs on his blood pressure and other vitals signs, faded out.

Sighing, he felt Dixie squeeze his hand encouragingly as she whispered that she was still there, close by.

Dimly he could make out long hair silhouetted in the faint light of the ward, and the glint of loving tears from his future wife's eyes as she sat down near him.

"I love you, Dix..." he gasped, through his oyxgen mask.

"Shhh, go to sleep, hon. I'll still be here when you awaken."

Soon, the head of the Cardiology Department fell to dreaming about past events that had been equally as painful to Kel as his current illness....

*  
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 18:54:30 -0800 (PST) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject: The Stuff of Dreams

(From Father And Sons, Episode Two)

The phone rang two times and the pauses showing his call going unanswered between them only increased his anxiety. ::Why am I feeling like an errant school boy? I'm forty two years old.  
Dad is just dad to me, isn't he?:: his thoughts rose.

------- ------- -------

"Because he's you're dad." Dixie's voice spoke from his memory of a conversation he had a week ago with his husky throated head ER nurse on just that same subject. "And you still look up to him. After all, you did follow in his footsteps getting into the medical field." she said.

"Emergency medicine's a far cry from psychiatry, Dix. I didn't follow anyone to get where I am today. Especially not him."  
Kel said a little defensively when Dix's comment stuck a little too far into the real truth of matters. "Also, I've branched off into cardiology, too, and that's an even more unrelated area than being some office bound, leather chair to couch side shrink."

Dix's frosted eyebrows rose in amazement.  
"Oh? I'd say in that way, you and your father are in an area a little closer together my fine, fretting friend. You both deal with matters of the heart. Only yours deals with just the physical aspects of things. You fix the body whereas he fixes the mind. Quite a complimentary pair to have in one family, in my book. You should team up together, Kel. Even if just to compare professional notes or something. Might be a way for you two to work out differences."  
she said gently, handing Dr. Brackett a cup of coffee.

"We are. I have dinner with him once a month."

"Oh, really." Dix said, throwing disbelieving doe eyes at Kel. "There's twelve months in a year,  
Kel. And I distinctly remember setting up reservations at Mannie's for you and your father only twice total, since this time last year.."

Kel's chin twitched. "I've been busy.."

"Yeah, well so have I. " Dix countered. "Although in my case, I haven't been too busy to see family I care about, to drift apart from again, due to carelessness."

From anyone else, Dixie's remark would earn a scathing sharp reply. But Kel and Dix were the best of friends, been old flames even, at one time. And what she said and felt,  
was still very very important to him.  
"You .....really think so?" he said, studying his hands and rubbing absently at their surgical dryness.

Dix shoved a jar of hand cream at him across the lounge table. "I know so. I've seen you two cross by my desk everyday. Brent to his office on the ninth floor and you to yours.  
I can't believe you two even work in the same hospital. He could be in Greece for all the contact I've seen. I can read the whole state of affairs between you two just by the degree of scowling on your faces. You in particular, have a certain cheek twitch that pops up whenever you think of your father.."

"I do not.." Dr. Brackett protested.

"You do... Ahaa!" she cried out in triumph. "There it is again! That's seven times today already."  
She leaned forward, finely filed nails clicking on the formica table top. "And for me, that's a critical sign with only one treatment available in my line of thinking.......Go call him, Kel.  
Arrange one of those well overdue dinner dates. You both are in severe need for quality father/son family time.....Oh,.. Just one thing though.."

Kel's face was sheepish as he used the cream Dixie had given him briskly to ease his chapped aching hands. "And what's that, Dix?"

"Promise me you'll both leave your white doctor coats at home.."

*  
From : "satchie51" Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] Dinner Reservations Date : Fri, 22 Nov 2002 15:50:32 -0000 Outside Mannie's Restaurant..

Kel reluctantly relinquished his car to the restaurant's valet. He walked toward the entrance with the enthusiasm of a man facing his executioner, not his own father. Summoning his resolve, he approached the maitre d'.

"Yes sir. How may I help you?"

Taking a deep breath, he replied, "I'm joining Dr. Brent Brackett for dinner."

The maitre d' nodded. "Ah, yes. He's been expecting you. Please come this way."

Numbly, Kel walked to the familiar table. A distinguished looking gentleman was already seated.  
He glanced disapproving at his watch. "You're late. I thought perhaps you changed your mind."

"I'm sorry. Things got a bit hectic in the ER at the last minute. I didn't think I was going to be able to get away," Kel apologized.

The elder Brackett appeared dubious. "I see."

"Dad "

"It would have been typical of you not to show up.  
You've been avoiding me like the plague for ages."

Kel guiltily stared at his fingernails. In truth,  
he had initiated this dinner engagement at Dixie's urging. Over the past two days, however, he must have considered at least a dozen excuses to cancel this evening's plans. Emotional intimacy had never been his forte, especially with his father. He deliberately accepted the responsibility of two additional patients after his shift ended in order to stall for time. That's why he was running twenty minutes behind schedule. Breaking the awkward silence, Kel motioned to the waiter to bring him a drink.

Brent raised his eyebrow. "Am I that unpleasant to be around that you need a drink?"

"No. No, of course not. It's been a long day,  
and I'm tired and I'd like a scotch." Noticing the glass clutched in his father's hand, Kel retorted, "I see you're imbibing in your usual poison. Do you need alcohol to feel comfortable around your own son?"

"You're being ridiculous."

"Then stop interpreting my actions as though there's a hidden psychological meaning behind them. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

"Point taken," Brent conceded. "So how has work been, besides busy?"

"Pretty much the same," Kel shrugged. "The new hospital administrator doesn't appreciate the value of the paramedic program to the community, so I've been having some interesting `discussions' lately."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

The other man thoughtfully steepled his fingers.  
"Why not?"

"Dad, I'm not one of your patients, all right?"  
Kel was developing an excruciating headache.  
He began to methodically massage his right temple.

"Kel, for crying out loud! I'm a psychiatrist,  
not a witch doctor. It's an honorable profession.  
Unfortunately, you've always acted like you were ashamed of what I did for a living. I didn't get my degree out of a cereal box. I went to medical school at Harvard, and completed a residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins, perfectly respectable institutions. Somehow you never seemed to accept my vocation as a `real' job. Sitting in a plush office and keeping a schedule didn't seem to fit your definition of work."

"Don't you think this conversation is a little one-sided? As I recall, you weren't exactly supportive of my educational choices either. I wanted to put myself through school so I wouldn't feel pressured to follow in your footsteps. I waited on tables, parked cars and even worked as an evening janitor at the university in order to put myself through school. Granted, I didn't have the same Ivy League education you had, but I earned my way through my own efforts, and I'm proud of that.  
And I distinctly remember how horrified you were when I announced I wanted to go into emergency medicine. You called it barbaric, and said I'd wash out in a week." Smiling smugly, Kel added,  
"Well, I'm still here."

Shaking his head, Brent argued, "You still don't understand what this is about, do you?"

"I presume you're going to enlighten me."

The father sighed in frustration. "You've been so blasted determined to escape from what you perceived to be my shadow, you've been running at full throttle most of your life. You thought my occupation was boring, so you chose the most exciting one you could imagine, emergency medicine."

Kel pondered this thought while he took a sip of his scotch.

"But don't you see?" Brent asked. "You're still acting like this is some bizarre competition between us. It's not, you know."

Mercifully, the waiter appeared to take their order. Kel had little appetite, but knew he was expected to follow the ritual. Without looking at the menu, he mechanically recited the desired items. His anxiety was mounting with each passing moment. Concealed by the linen tablecloth, he was clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Dad, I simply wanted to be my own man. That's a normal desire."

"That's true, if not taken to extremes. But you never know when to draw the line. Everything is all or nothing, black or white," his father chided.  
When you decided to become a doctor, you couldn't settle for just any specialty. You had to outdo me and prove you were better than your old man. And what could be more dramatically different than a field that deals with life and death issues every minute?"

His father's words cut him with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel. An uncomfortable feeling in his stomach was making its presence known. Kel replied, "You've never accepted the fact that we're totally different people with different interests. Maybe sitting around talking to people all day long is your cup of tea, but it isn't mine.  
I thrive on the excitement of the emergency room."

"What is it precisely that you find so appealing?  
Is it the power you wield of being the head of the department, or saving people's lives?"

Kel's famous temper flared. "Saving people's lives,  
of course!"

"And you don't think I help save people's lives?"  
Brent shot back. "You may have looked down upon my profession and the scheduled hours I kept, but they allowed me the luxury of being able to raise a family and participate in a healthy social life.  
On the other hand, you'd rather work like a maniac to the exclusion of all else. You're forty-two years old and you have no life to speak of. You're not able to sustain relationships, and your time is essentially confined to the hospital and your apartment."

Color began to drain from the younger man's face.  
He was furious that his father would dare to presume to lecture him, particularly in a public setting.

Undeterred, Brent continued. "Even though we rarely get together, we do work in the same hospital. I know you're working yourself into an early grave.  
Your long hours and avoidance of vacations are legendary. But it's taking its toll on you. You look exhausted. You're pale, you've lost weight and you look like you're not sleeping well."

Incredulous, Kel warned, "This is none of your business."

"You're my son. That makes it my business."

A war waged within Kel. He was angry with his father for pursuing this line of conversation,  
and with Dixie for insisting he schedule this stupid meeting. Most of all, he was angry with himself for allowing events to unfold as they had.  
After all these years, he should have known better than to discuss certain topics with his father.  
It was a foregone conclusion he would always lose these heated debates. The throbbing in his temple worsened.

"Dad, you have no right to make judgments about how I choose to live my life."

Brent leaned back in the leather-upholstered chair.  
"Then answer me this question. Did you succeed?"

Kel was thoroughly confused. "Succeed in what?"

"Did you prove to yourself you're not me?"

"I don't understand."

"Obviously you thought I was so terrible that you went through extraordinary measures to avoid being like me. In personality, temperament, interests,  
profession, you've tried to be my opposite in every way. But you're a grown man now. You've established yourself." Brent's tone softened and he gently placed his hand on Kel's forearm. "Son, if you're still running away from something, do you even know where you're running to?"

Suddenly Kel felt the room was closing in on him.  
Overwhelmed by nausea, he bolted from the table and raced to the men's room. Standing over the toilet, he proceeded to lose what little he had eaten earlier in the day.

A few minutes later, he splashed his face with cold water to revive himself. He caught his reflection in the mirror. For the first time, he didn't see the cocky, self-assured head of emergency services at Rampart. He saw an insecure little boy wanting to be anyone but his father.

*  
From : "SM Fortis" Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] The Restaurant Confessional Date : Wed, 27 Nov 2002 09:42:38 -0600

Grateful to be home in his own apartment, Kel stretched out on the couch. Despite Joe s advice he wait awhile before scheduling another reconciliation attempt, Kel promptly contacted his father and made reservations for dinner that evening. Patience never had been his greatest virtue. His colleague was right in one respect.  
If Kel dictated the terms of the meeting and tried to keep the conversation on message, perhaps he would feel more in control of the situation. He was determined not to feel powerless in the presence of Brent Brackett again.

Since his return home, Dixie called twice to make sure he was okay. To combat his growing anxiety,  
Kel occupied himself by spending most of the afternoon performing errands and browsing at a jazz record store Joe was always raving about.  
After purchasing a couple of albums, he glanced at his watch and headed back to his apartment.

He was pleased to discover the patio door was already replaced. One unpleasant reminder of the previous evening s events was now conveniently eradicated. Unfortunately, the stark white bandages wrapping his right hand and arm were still grim reminders of his angry outburst. Kel cringed at the memory of his senseless act.

Placing his package on the table, he headed toward his bedroom and began rummaging through his closet for an appropriate suit. After a quick shower and shave, Kel changed clothes and left ahead of schedule.  
He thought if he arrived at the restaurant first,  
he would feel less intimidated by his father. He was resolved not to leave in humiliation again.

The maitre d promptly greeted Kel and ushered him to his table. He briefly closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for the exchange that awaited him. Looking through the windows, Kel saw a spectacular sunset. Somehow the scene comforted and encouraged him. The advice of his friends was at the forefront of his mind right now. The sooner he could establish some common ground with his father, the sooner their fractured relationship could begin to heal.

Shortly thereafter, the elder Brackett was escorted to the table. Kel rose not only as a point of etiquette, but also as a token of respect. Brent offered his hand in greeting, and suddenly Kel felt self-conscious about his injury. Pasting an uncomfortable smile on his face, he gingerly shook his father s hand.

Brent frowned. "What happened to your arm?"

"Oh, I had a little accident at home. I m fine."  
Eager to deflect attention from himself, Kel asked,  
"Did you have any problems finding the restaurant?"

"No, not at all. Your directions were quite specific." Appreciatively eyeing the premises,  
Brent remarked, "This place has a very cozy atmosphere. How did you happen upon this amazing little discovery?"

Kel inwardly smiled at the memories of many pleasant evenings he shared with Dixie here. "A friend introduced me to it several years ago. I hoped the change of venue would provide a fresh start for us. There would be no ghosts from the past to haunt us." Signaling the waiter, he ordered a round of drinks for the two of them, preferring club soda for himself. He decided he could not afford to have his thoughts clouded by alcohol,  
nor his famous temper unleashed by lowered inhibitions. No, tonight Kel needed his complete faculties.

His father s brow furrowed. "You re not having your usual?"

"I m taking some medication," Kel lied.

"I heard you took a rare day off today. Is everything okay?"

That was the problem with a small community like Rampart, news traveled fast. How much did his father know about last night? Kel s answer was evasive. "I had some personal business to attend to."

"I have to admit, I was surprised to hear from you this afternoon," Brent said. "I thought our last meeting went rather badly."

Taking a sip of his drink, Kel proceeded, "That s why I wanted to see you again so soon. I think we ve allowed this situation to go on long enough.  
Don t you agree?"

His father sighed. "So, has the prodigal son experienced some glorious epiphany since we last met?"

"Dad, I m simply tired of this ridiculous state of affairs. We ve been at odds since I was a kid.  
Okay, I m not a brilliant psychiatrist, so maybe I m too dense to understand the official psychobabble explanation. But I m smart enough to know this standoff has come to an end."

"You always have been willful."

The men were granted a respite when the waiter came to take their order. They sat in silence for several minutes, each studiously avoiding contact. It was painfully obvious neither felt comfortable in the other s presence.

Finally, Brent addressed his son. "I understand you were upset with me last night."

Kel shot his father a baleful glare. "We re not here to discuss MY problems. We re here to discuss OURS."

"Okay, so what s really on your mind?"

Attempting to keep his tone of voice devoid of emotion, Kel asked, "Why DID you move to Los Angeles? Of all the places in the country you could have relocated to, why did you have to move here, and why did you choose to practice at Rampart?"

Brent stared at the table centerpiece. "Your mother wanted the two of us to make amends. Since it was obvious you weren t going to make the first step, she thought I should swallow my foolish pride and initiate the process."

"I don t understand."

"When you were a boy, we used to enjoy spending time together, as strange as that seems now. We went almost everywhere together." A small smile escaped Brent s lips. "I used to take you to the hospital with me, and you d tell anyone who would listen that you were my son, and you were going to be a doctor like me when you grew up."

The older man remorsefully shook his head. "But soon your youthful boasts appealed to my vanity.  
I envisioned you as my own immortality, so I wanted to remold you in my image. Since you were always so willing to please me, I assumed you would be agreeable to this arrangement. I honestly pictured us spending quality time together over the years,  
and in due time, I foresaw the day when you would take your rightful place as my partner in my clinical practice."

"But it didn t quite work out that way," Kel said flatly.

"Unfortunately, it didn t. I pushed you away instead. In my arrogance, I refused to recognize you as a unique individual. You always had a sense of your own identity."

"I resented you dictating my life," Kel stated.  
"You never bothered to ask me if I wanted to participate in your grand plans or not. All I knew is one day I was Dad s precious son who could do no wrong, and then the next you found fault with everything I did. No detail was too insignificant to escape your exacting scrutiny.  
I thought you didn t love me anymore."

"But that was the problem," Brent explained. "I loved you too much, but in an unhealthy way. Ironic,  
isn t it? Here I was, a well-renown psychiatrist,  
but I wasn t able to see I was sabotaging our relationship. Every time you rebelled and became angrier, I became more critical. Because you failed to conform, I assumed you were stupid and ungrateful.  
I felt like a failure not only as a father, but also as a psychiatrist. My ego wouldn t allow me to admit I had failed. Until the day you left, I had to keep trying to remake you."

Kel rubbed his face. "Why didn t you say anything before?

"Saying I m sorry has never come easily to me.  
I didn t realize the full implications of what I had done to you until you were gone. By that time,  
we were barely speaking to each other. Over the years, begging for forgiveness became next to impossible."

Conflicting emotions swirled within Kel. He was angry with his father for not mentioning any of this earlier, but he understood how difficult it must have been for him to do so tonight. Kel took after his father in that respect. It was not in his nature to cross emotional barriers without significant effort. If it were not for the encouragement of Dixie and Joe, he would not be here this evening having this conversation.  
He knew he was hardly in a position to judge his father on this particular point.

But he also felt a myriad of other feelings:  
abandonment, betrayal, resentment, bewilderment and surprisingly, still even love. Kel saw his father with new eyes. Brent didn t look so arrogant and controlling now. Instead, he came across as an aging pathetic figure that once hoped to live forever through his son.

For a long period of time, the two men did not speak. They were content to nurse their drinks and stare into oblivion. They were relieved when the waiter served the food. For a few moments they would be spared the necessity of having to engage in conversation.

As they began to eat, Brent looked on with genuine concern since Kel seemed to have trouble carving his steak due to his injured hand. "Do you need any help with that?" he offered.

"No, that s okay, I have it under control. I m pretty good with a knife, if I do say so myself,"  
Kel grinned.

"I see you haven t lost your sense of modesty over the years."

The son shrugged. "It s hard to be humble and great at the same time."

"You re a lot like your mother in some ways, very resilient and single-minded. I know you tend to think of it as a sign of weakness, but you re more compassionate like she is." Brent softly said,  
"After all these years, your mother has never forgiven me for driving you away from us. I m not sure I ve forgiven myself."

Kel was confused. He wasn t sure what he expected from this evening s meeting, but his father s uncharacteristic confession certainly wasn t it.  
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Recent conversations with Dixie and Joe weighed heavily upon his conscience. Years of hurt could not be easily erased with a simple apology. Yet, they needed to begin somewhere. He thought of his mother,  
and the years of anguish this rift must have caused her. Didn t he at least owe it to her to make an effort?

Staring at his nearly full plate, Kel tentatively cleared this throat. "Dad, as you ve pointed out before, I ve never been good at maintaining relationships. But maybe now is a good time to begin. Don t you think it s time we started behaving like two grown men and put aside our differences, if for no other reason than for Mom s sake?"

"I don t even know where to begin," Brent said reluctantly.

Cautiously leaning forward, Kel spoke. "Perhaps it s time for you to visit me in my office for a change. You know, see me in my natural habitat?  
It s possible I subconsciously went into emergency medicine to spite you or to prove something to myself.  
But somewhere along the way I discovered it was my passion. I really love this field, and I m good at it. I can t imagine being happier anywhere else but the emergency room of Rampart. What do you say, Dad?"

Brent considered his son s proposal. "I don t know.  
I heard the head of the department can be a real bear and a force to be reckoned with."

"No, those are all vicious rumors," Kel chuckled.  
"He s a real pussycat once you get to know him.  
At least that s what the head nurse is fond of pointing out."

"Speaking of the head nurse, do I have your reassurances she s not going to bite my head off if I set foot in the ER? She must think I give you such grief."

"No, Dad. In fact, she s one of the reasons I called you. Dixie has been after me for ages to get me to end this conflict. She s a persistent woman."

"Sounds like your mother," Brent joked. The two men laughed. For the first time all evening, they felt genuinely relaxed.

"How about meeting me in my office for coffee tomorrow morning?" Kel asked. "I can give you a tour of my department." With a tinge of a little boy s expectation in his voice he added,  
"Hopefully you ll be proud of what your son has become."

*  
From : "Roxy Dee" Subject : Patch Job~~ Date : Tue, 03 Dec 2002 15:25:14 +0000

They piped down when Kel came through the treatment doors not alone, but accompanied by Brent Brackett,  
the tyrannical father figure they had heard so much about through Paramedic Mendelson in the hall.

Dix cast significant eyes at Johnny and Roy and the rest of the gang in the room and angled her head to show her statement about their making amends was really quite true. She started heading for the door.

Kel called out after her. "Say Dix, did you get Roy's blood samples for the l--?" he broke off when Dix held up the three vials already clasped in her long fingernails without turning around. "oh... ok."

Dixie winked at the gang on her way out.

Dr. Brackett noticed the unusual presence of Roy's coworkers in the room, trying to blend in with the glass medicine cabinets. "Roy, you've quite an entourage of fans here. Didn't know you were so popular. Thought Gage here was the star in your outfit."

"They're worried about Chet, doc." DeSoto said without smiling.

"Nothing to worry about." Brent Brackett spoke up instantly.

Dr. Brackett stiffened at his father's intrusion into his patient / doctor territory, but the firemen all saw Kel relax a bit when Kel realized Brent was actually bringing his own skills to bear accordingly as was his right as senior attending house psychologist.

"We just left him and his chest Xray, young man.  
Looking good. Both of them." Brent told Roy and the rest of the firemen in the room, hanging on to his white coat's lapels.

Johnny's eye rose skeptically, making Kel smirk in mild amusement. "What Dr. Brackett is saying, is true. Chet's chest Xray is showing little edema and a huge reduction in swelling. Looks like the effect of the lungful of ammonia he took in was only temporary, made that way, by your prompt fast action with administering unmoistened O2. And even his abdominal plates look good. I saw only minor shadowing over his spleen. The mast trousers did their job. All bleeding's under control. The surgery I'm doing on him should just be a patch job, gentlemen.."

"That's a relief.." Mike Stoker sighed. "It wasn't fun seeing Chet fly off my engine like he did."

"Yeah, Chet's no superman.." Gage chuckled.

They hushed down when Kel Brackett finished checking Roy out. DeSoto showed him the place where the ammonia had soaked into his arm.  
Only a little reddening was showing up under the light. "Mild first degree freeze burn. I don't think any had time to get into your blood stream, Roy.  
Your lab tests will reveal that for sure in a few minutes. Get dressed. We're through. Just be sure to call me on return of symptoms, all right?"

"You got it, doc.." he said.

Kel hurried out the door to head for surgery.

Brent was left in the room with the gang and he handed Roy his T- shirt back. "Is he a good man to work with, Kel Brackett? Afraid to admit, that I've really just started watching him work, only tonight."

Roy answered without hesitation, but subconsciously straightening from where he sat on the treatment gurney. "One of the best, sir. He singlehandedly saved the Paramedic Program from being legislated out of operation during its earliest days and he trained not only me, personally, but my partner Johnny here, as well, to function as efficient intermediary caregivers in just about any prehospital setting. To date, in only six years, Dr. Brackett created twenty paramedic teams embedded in just as many firehouses across L. A. County. Entirely due to his own hard work and perserverence."

Brent laughed openly and clasped Roy's hand warmly. "My g*d. Do we need an introduction my boy! Seems Dixie's really painted me out to be the worst ogre of a two ogre pair now hasn't she?  
You're practically foaming at the mouth singing praises about my boy, son. Relax....True, I'm just like Kel in temperment, but I'm mellower by miles.. A trait of all this gray hair, I suppose. Listen..I really appreciate your devotion to my son's work.. Sounds very genuine if I do say so myself.  
Mr...mr..."

"DeSoto.." Roy said, returning the handshake.

Johnny's nervous smile fell off into a sideways grin of relief.

"DeSoto. A solid French name. And the rest of you?"

A round of introductions came after that from Cap right on down to Stoker.

-------------------------------------------------

They ended up in the coffee lounge, away from public view, so the firefighting gear wouldn't alarm hospital visitors. Brent Brackett learned a whole lot about his son from Dixie and the Station 51 crew over the next hour while they waited for word about Chet's surgery results.

Brent finally couldn't stand their fretting. He rose,  
abandoning his coffee mug. "All right. I've monopolized your good graces enough folks, digging for dirt or gold concerning my very grown son. Tell you what.. I've got a lot of clout around here as house psych. Think I'll peek in on how Kel's handling your man, captain." he said.

Cap looked startled. "You don't have to do that. We know Chet's probably fine, doctor. Just a patch surgery job, Kel said."

"Be that as it may. I'll be killing two birds with one stone by making the round. I'll get your answer for you that much sooner and I'll be able to see my son in action at the same time. Fair trade off."

"Just stay in the observation room.." Dix chided.

"Where would the fun be in that, Miss McCall? I want to see how my son works under pressure.."

Dix scowled, but it was tempered with amusement.  
"Family peer pressure's dirty pool, doctor, and you know it.."

"Kel can handle it. After all, he's handled this whole paramedic thing and all these men behind it for six years? How's one more doctor hanging over his shoulder gonna matter?"

"Plenty..you'll both be wearing the same fake smile." Dix said without a shred of humility, as Brent made his goodbyes to the stationhouse gang and accepted their profuse thanks for doing what he was about to do.

Captain Stanley leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head and wondered when the sparks were going to ignite into a big fire between the Brackett docs once again. He hope Brent's little appearance in Kel's operating ward wouldn't prove to be a new catalyst for another fiery father son feud.

Dixie didn't appear overtly alarmed. She simply reached for the nearly empty coffee pot on the table contentedly and poured herself a cup.

That cup went right into Joe Early's hands when the silver haired doctor showed up into the nurses lounge.

Gage said, "How's he doing?" Johnny asked Joe immediately before the man had taken even one sip.

"Thanks Dix. I need the pick me up. Fine Johnny.. His vitals are still stable. Kel's almost through with the exploratory. We had no problems intubating Chet after he was put under, if that's what you want to know. His air passages were very clear Johnny."

Gage nodded, sorry that he was so transparent.  
"Thanks doc. His earlier wheezing was kinda scary."

"That's the funny thing about anhydrous ammonia.  
It either really really does a number on you, or it let's you off lightly after a really good scare. In Chet's case, he got the all bluff end of the spectrum. There's no retinal damage or even corneal abrasions. No chance of that blinding you guys were all fearing during the rescue.."

Mike Stoker said. "Good. Last thing we need is Chet Kelly banging around the station with a sight cane while he cooks fifteen alarm chow for us every night."

The whole gang laughed at the image.

Joe even chortled.

Roy asked about their other victims from the accident.  
"How about the woman we brought in, Daphne? She doing ok?"

"Same story as Chet, minus the internal injuries.  
She'll stay the night and'll be discharged in the morning if her lungs stay clear. Nice fast action Johnny on ending that laryngeal spasm then." Dr. Early said.

"I didn't do anything. The hose team got a good pocket of air around us and she resolved on her own."

"Lucky. She could have been that close to triggering a tracheal collapse reflex when her larynx cramped like that." Joe said, holding out miniscule fingers in the air.

"I know.. you could have knocked me over with a stick when she started breathing again after I got a good lifting grip on her throat." Gage admitted.  
"I remembered at the last second that gas inhalation reacted the same way as a liquid water drowning with spasming like that. I almost forgot how effective the technique was."

"Who taught you that move?" Cap asked. "That was pretty slick considering there wasn't much else you could do for her, wearing your SCBA mask like that.."

"Dr. Brackett."  
"Dr. Brackett." Roy and John both replied in stereo.

Dr. Early grinned. "I take it Brent was in here a while ago."

"How'd you know?" Dix said in surprise.

"They said their answer too fast, Dix, dead give away."

"Oh.."

A loud stomach rumble permeated the air. From Marco.. "Lo ciento.. All that running made me hungry."

"Time for a pizza run.. My treat.." Joe said.  
He got on the phone to dietary, shushing them all into silence, before the gang's active protests stopped him. "Consider it part of your followup ammonia gas treatment.." he quipped.

"Thanks doc, we owe you one.." Cap grinned.

Cap and the others literally inhaled the four pizzas while Dix and Joe merely nibbled.

The pizza pans had been tossed onto the dish cart for only about thirty seconds when the wait for news about Chet grew once again intolerable.

All eyes started watching the clock and the house phone for word from Dr. Brent Brackett's sticking his nose in where it didn't belong.

*  
From : "patti keiper" Subject :[EmergencyTheaterLive] Of Mice and Men.. Date : Thu, 12 Dec 2002 21:31:07 +0000 Kel Brackett didn't even look up from his surgical field when he felt a presence at his shoulder. He knew right away that it was his father in the blue scrubs near him. "Doctor Brackett." he said simply and as neutrally as he could. Kel could feel his cheek twitching under his mask. But inwardly, he told himself once again in his thoughts.::I did ask dad to see what I do for my living.:: he sighed. ::I just have to get used to him taking advantage of the invite, hook line and sinker.::

Brent Brackett knew how to observe in a sterile ward. His ungloved hands were behind his back and he stayed behind Kel at half an arm's length. "Before you say anything.. I...only stepped in here solely on behalf of the boys who work with this young fellow. They're milking this anhydrous exposure checkup requirement to the max and they're all still here, crowded in the nurse's break lounge. Joe Early had to feed them because they wouldn't even leave the staff paging phone unattended long enough to grab a tray from the cafeteria, fearful they'd miss hearing from you."

Dr. Brackett wasn't beneath trying to shock his father. "The resection on the mediastinal aspect of Chet's spleen is a straight forward repair job. See for yourself.." and he intentionally sprayed his running tube of sterile saline wash over the area, not caring that a part of its red tinged spray splashed up, catching his father's mask and his scrub top liberally as it plumed upwards when the older man didn't anticipate stepping back at the sound like all the others around the table did.

Brent flinched but then blinked, wondering if the dousing had been a ploy to drive him away, but he was already more than determined to remain. He cleared his throat and said loud enough for all in the room to hear.  
"Oops. Good thing gore has never bothered me. Please, show me what you've done so far, doctor. I'm all eyes." he said, hiding any trace of negative emotion from his voice. Brent surprised himself when his own temper, didn't flare up at all.

Nonetheless, a well informed, Dixie enlightened tech hastily suctioned away the water for Kel from Chet's abdominal cavity almost a little too fast. Kel had to hold Chet's spleen down with his forceps so it wouldn't plug her tube's port as she used it.

Kel glanced at her reflexively but the woman's face stayed looking down at what she was doing.  
For her benefit, Kel said. "Sorry about that, I'll slow down." Dr. Brackett half wondered if there was anyone on the staff who didn't know about the Brackett family friction. And he quickly began feeling like an *ss for what he had done. ::Dixie's thorough on the grapevine, I'll give her that. About as thorough as she is running triage. Everyone around us is walking on egg shells. That's gonna change..:: he vowed. ::Now:  
he said. He was glad for his mask when it hid the rising red of embarrassment in his face.  
He decided to show the entire room that Dixie's tale about them was now completely baseless.  
"Dad, look here. This is where Chet's fall impacted against his spleen. See that mark? You can almost make out lettering from the regulator valve he fell on top of. He must have been wearing a SCBA bottle when he fell and that metal piece on the harness was what cut him internally."

"Hmm. I see it." Brent mumbled.  
"Looks sort of like the artifacts that show up on chest x-rays sometimes from drivers impacting their sternums against the steering wheel column?"  
Brent asked. Then he chuckled. "Saw a Chrysler logo chevron once on one from a patient of mine. That young man now hangs that x-ray on his wall." He sighed accepting a cotton wad from a nurse gratefully so he could mop up his gory face. "He now shows it to all of his dates and tells them it's his secret tattoo that can even be felt, for a kiss."

"Yeah? Well Chet won't be left with any such girl magnet.  
This tissue isn't bone. It will heal cleanly in a few days, leaving no traces. Chet's external skin bruising will stay longer than this laceration."  
Kel said, snipping off his last internal suture stitch.  
"There," he said, "Good as new.." Kel dabbed the spleen with gauze until Brent could see his work.

"Bowels clear? And the intestines?" Brent asked,  
peering closer.

"Completely. All of Chet's internal bleeding came from this site alone. The spleen's the body's repository for whole blood so it's not surprising this tiny tear hemorrhaged so much. The anti shock trousers did a good job stopping it as you saw on the films."

"So I did.." Brent said. "So, what should I tell the fireboys?"

"That it was a piece of cake, doctor. Chet's no longer in jeopardy."

"Will do." and he nodded and winked to the nervous tech across from them. Then he turned to his surgeon son. "Coffee after you close?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Kel said. "Then I'll leave you all to your work.." Brent Brackett leaned down to Chet. He saw the young fireman's eyes had been ointmented and protectively taped shut and he carefully stayed away from where the anesthesiologist was listening to Chet's breathing through the endotrach tube with a stethoscope. He spoke firmly into Kelly's ear. "Looks good son. Almost done. Wake up fast cause your friends are still hanging around to see you. My guess is that it won't be good for them later if your dispatcher has to order them back to the stationhouse. Oh, and Joe Early just told me they've saved some pizza for you." he said, patting Chet's sheet covered shoulder. "So hurry up son, before someone gets hungry again and it disappears."

Everyone around the table laughed when Chet's stomach took that moment to start growling.  
It was very audible as it and the organs around it were still exposed to the air.

"That got through my anesthesia?" the man at Chet's head joked. "Usually I have people's plumbing napping soundly during splenectomies."

"Yeah well this fireman's appetite is legendary, Dale. Don't feel bad. I hear Johnny complaining about his donut stealing prowess all the time." Kel shook his head ruefully, amused. "Dad, I know of a better way to wake him up if you're interested. Grab Johnny's walkie talkie. I'll have Doctor Riley here on the respirator play him his station's alarm tones after he's extubated." he joked.

"Aren't you the creative one.." Brent teased back,  
just before the surgical bay doors closed between them. "But I think I'll pass on that. Positive reinforcement works so much better than shock tactics.." he replied.

Brackett immediately regretted his little stunt with splashing the sterile wash. Internally, Kel accepted Brent's hidden admonishment. ::I deserved that. Now why am I still acting like such a pig? This unspoken feud between us is being addressed. What am I afraid of?::

Inside his head, another voice of conscience spoke up. ::Losing your mother because of it.::

-----------------------------------------------

Brent Brackett was still wet from his shower when he dialed the nurses lounge.

The phone rang, making the whole gang jump in their seats as way too much coffee in their systems made them overreact.

Then the babble in the room ceased when no one moved to intercept the phone. Marco, Stoker, Johnny and Roy all hushed up in tension, like frightened rabbits when it was the red phone and not the black one that was paging them.

Dixie MacCall answered the phone. "Nurse's lounge,  
Dixie McCall speaking.."

Brent greeted her. "Miss McCall? Put Mr. Kelly's captain on. I wanna speak with him directly. And before you ask. All things went well. Both my visit and with Chester's exploratory. His spleen's intact. Didn't need to be removed. So hop to,  
woman."

Dixie hid her smile even from her eyes as she handed over the phone. "Captain Stanley.  
You're needed here."

"Oh, boy. Hope it's not McConnike for playing hooky.  
He never goes through public HT channels when he's really mad at somebody." Cap said, leaping off the lounge couch and wiping nervous palms on his turnout.

Dixie couldn't help herself. She said, "Relax captain.  
It's not him. Remember, I'm your solid alibi here for all of you staying at Rampart even if the chief does call.  
I already have my speech planned out."  
and she broke into a reasoning voice, sugar coated with Dixie no nonsense. "I'll just say, 'Chief, It's a little busy today, and that's why it's taking longer than usual to examine all of your men. ' when the time comes."

"Glad somebody's prepared for that call."  
Hank sighed, and rose, taking the phone from her.  
"This is Fireman Stanley." with more than just slight apprehension.

Brent grinned."Go home, captain. Chet's already being sent to recovery. His spleen was only holed, not grossly ruptured. It was all just minor surgery."

Cap excitedly spread the good news to his listeners out of ear shot.

Brent heard the cheers and had to take the phone away from his ear for a moment but then he shouted before Hank hung up again. "Captain Stanley, one thing.  
Hand that to-go box full of pizza to Dixie for her to take to his room or Chet's gonna personally kill ya."

"Huh?"

"Subliminal suggestion, Captain. Works everytime.  
I told him it would be waiting."

"Gotcha, doc. She heard ya. Thanks, Dr. Brackett, for everything. We really appreciate it."

"That's why I'm a psychologist, son. Take care." and Brent hung up the phone.

From : "SM Fortis" Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] Hello? Date : Thu, 12 Dec 2002 23:15:18 -0600

Silently cursing himself as he entered the elevator,  
Kel punched the button for the ground floor. What was he thinking when he invited his father to spend time with him at work? Did he possess a bizarre need to validate his sense of self-  
worth? Was he trying to dazzle him with his diagnostic and surgical abilities? After all these years, did Brent Brackett s opinion still matter?

Upon reaching his destination, Kel approached his office with grim determination. With greater force than was necessary, he flung the door open.  
Brent sat in one of the leather-upholstered chairs in front of the imposing desk. Pasting a smile on his face, Kel addressed his father.

"Hey, Dad. Are you ready to head to the Doctor's Lounge?"

Brent shrugged his shoulders. "In a minute. I thought we could talk first."

The younger Brackett nervously laughed. "You sound like a typical shrink. You guys always want to talk."

"Spoken like a true surgeon. Always wanting to plunge right into things."

"Dad.."

"It s okay," Brent said. "Obviously we each have our own talents."

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Feeling like a world-class jerk for his behavior earlier, Kel cleared his throat. "Dad, I m sorry for that little stunt in the OR. It was immature and uncalled for. You just caught me off guard,  
that s all."

"I know. But when you invited me to watch you work, you didn t plan on me ambushing you either."

"I did assume it would be under more controlled circumstances," Kel admitted.

Leaning back in his chair, Brent said, "I had an opportunity to speak with a couple of your biggest fans this evening."

"Oh?"

"The paramedics that work with the firefighter you operated on. I believe their names were Roy and Johnny?"

Kel smiled broadly. "They were one of the first teams I trained. I wasn t a huge supporter of the program initially. Oh, to be honest, I was vehemently against it. I thought it was dangerous and essentially amounted to practicing medicine without a license. But eventually I came around and became one of the program s staunchest defenders.  
We cleared some substantial legislative hurdles and funding crises, and now I can t imagine how we managed pre-hospital care without our paramedics."

"They were quite effusive in their praise,"  
Brent commented. "You certainly have earned their respect. You re more than a mentor to these men."

Suddenly embarrassed, Kel joked, "Well, perhaps they may not feel so charitable when it s time for their annual performance evaluations."

"Seriously, Kel. That says a great deal about your character. I would be immensely flattered if someone thought that highly of me."

"But Dad, you re well respected in your field."

"It s not the same," Brent lamented. "So what if I ve published extensively? Other than impressing a handful of snobbish colleagues and adding a few lines to my Curriculum Vitae,  
I haven t accomplished anything of lasting significance."

Kel rubbed his temple. First there was the strange confession in the restaurant, and now there was a melancholy tone to his father s last remark. This was proving to be an interesting evening.

Staring at the carefully arranged bookcase, Brent continued. "Based on the hospital grapevine, I expected you to be arrogant and overbearing, and thought your employees would cower in your presence.  
Instead, I discovered you re merely passionate about your life s calling. In retrospect, I can see your career choice wasn t an act of parental defiance. This is what you were meant to do."

"I can t imagine doing anything else, Dad. I feel complete here."

"Yes, I can see that now."

Resting his elbows on his desk, Kel asked, "Dad?  
Don t you think we need to forgive ourselves too?"

Brent raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?"

"Don t get me wrong. Forgiving each other is a significant step in the right direction in putting our relationship back on track, but it isn t going to help if we re consumed with guilt over past offenses."

The elder Brackett buried his face in his hands.  
"That s easier said than done. You don t have a constant reminder of your mistakes."

"I don t understand," Kel said.

"Your mother isn t the same person anymore.  
She blames me for tearing her family apart.  
Scarcely a day goes by that I m not reminded of my failures as a father. You have no idea what it s like to go home every day, knowing your presence is barely tolerated."

"So when you moved to Los Angeles."

"I was not only trying to reestablish communi-  
cation with you, I was trying to save my marriage,"  
Brent finished.

"Wow," Kel exclaimed. "I had no idea. Mom always sounds okay when I talk to her."

"Of course, she would," Brent snorted.  
"You re her precious baby, even if you are forty-two years old. She still wants to protect you from all of the unpleasant things in life."

"Oh, man. I really messed up, didn t I? I must have broken her heart when I left home."

"She was pretty upset with both of us," Brent pointedly added. "You re not entirely at fault."

Kel was furious with himself. He was so anxious to escape his domineering father, he never considered the effect his departure would have on this mother. During telephone conversations,  
she always sounded so cheerful. Now it was apparent because of the power struggle between the two men, his mom had been cruelly deprived of the most cherished relationships in her life.

"Do you think she ll ever be able to forgive me?" Kel asked earnestly.

"Hah! You re completely blameless as far as she s concerned. I m the heartless ..well, you get the idea."

"That s not fair. It was ultimately my decision.  
I could have handled the situation better," Kel reasoned.

"Hindsight is always crystal clear, son," Brent replied. "At the time, you were so blinded by your contempt for me, I doubt you could have arrived at any other solution. Besides, as much as I hate to admit, I was relieved to see you go.  
After years of yelling and screaming, I looked forward to having some quiet time with your mother."

The younger man attempted a feeble grin. "I assume that was a case of be careful of what you wish for?"

"Absolutely. Your mother didn t speak to me for weeks. The situation deteriorated to the point where we separated for a couple of months."

"You re kidding!" As Kel looked across his desk,  
he realized the man sitting opposite him was a stranger. It was difficult to comprehend this was someone he once shared his dreams and aspirations with. Was it his imagination, or did his father age a little bit more each time he shared another humbling personal secret?

"So how are you two doing now?" Kel inquired.

Running his fingers across his chin, Brent responded,  
"We re managing. We ve settled into a comfortable routine here, and she s made new friends. But hardly a day goes by that she doesn t ask about you. She wants to know if I ve seen you, do you look well, how is your career doing that sort of thing. Mainly she wants to know why I haven t marched into your office and thrown myself at your mercy."

Mentally evaluating the available floor space,  
Kel said, "I don t know, Dad. Perhaps there s a spot over here where prostration might be an option."

A chuckle was heard from across the room. "I ve groveled enough for one evening. We re overdue for a cup of coffee." As Brent rose from his chair, Kel motioned for him to sit down.

"Wait a minute, Dad. I want to make a phone call."

"Can t it wait until tomorrow? It s late."

"That s the problem. I m hoping it s not too late," Kel explained.

Puzzled, Brent sat back down. "Who are you calling?"

"I want to call Mom."

"At this hour?"

Jolted to reality, Kel pushed the phone back to the corner of his desk. "You re right.  
I don t know what got into me. Besides, I don t even have the number on me."

Moved by the haunted expression in his son s eyes, Brent sighed. "Do you have a pen?"

"No, she s probably already in bed. I ll call her later."

His father seized control of the phone and dialed the familiar number. Thrusting the receiver into Kel s hands, Brent quietly left the room.

With each ring, Kel s heart rate accelerated.  
His mouth felt incredibly dry. Oh, this was ridiculous, he thought. He was a grown man calling his own mother. It wasn t like he was a gawky teenager asking the prom queen out for a date!

The ringing stopped and was replaced by a gentle voice. Summoning his courage, Kel tentatively said, "Mom? It s Kel....."

-  
Doctor Brackett awoke in a sweat, and startled awake in his hospital room. With a start, he realized that it wasn't the first day of his emergency admission anymore. It was the last one, fully a week after he had collapsed in Dixie's administrative office with a sky rocketting blood pressure.

It had been only Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage's fast,  
careful care that had prevented a stroke in him, he knew.  
::I was too high strung to calm myself down. Now I'm living testimony to their still solid effectiveness as paramedics. :: he decided. ::Glad they both made captain.::

Sighing in relief that his dreams about his father had only been a recap of what had once been, Kel sat up and tested his physical strength out yet again in his legs and feet.

No tubes of any kind stuck out of his body. ::Good riddance. I was getting tired of those.:: Kel thought,  
realizing once again that he was already in his street clothes, waiting for his ride home. ::I wonder when Dad's coming?  
It can't be too long now. And I wonder what he's got planned for me this time?:: he thought.

Brackett smiled when he realized that the worst of both of his situations, lay behind him.

----------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Kel speaking to his father at his bedside.

Photo: Brent Brackett, smiling hugely from a bed.

Photo: Joe and Kel watching surgery being performed.

Photo: A man undergoing surgery while Kel and Joe look on.

Photo: Dixie leaning over a hospital bed.

Photo: A sweaty Kel, sleeping, in close up.

Photo: Silhouette of a fishing boat on a sunset still lake.

Photo: Roy and Johnny smiling gently at the station.

Subject: Like Father Like...? From: Erin James Sent: Tue 4/15/08 3:16 AM Brent was soon at the door with a smile on his face from ear to ear. "Hi, Kel." Brent smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

Kel winked at Dixie, who was standing patiently with the customary discharge wheelchair.

Kel said, "Been ready since Wednesday."

"Okay, All-better-boy. Get in." McCall teased. She was slightly surprised that Kel didn't fuss about it.

Brackett ignored her suspicion. "Whose car are we taking?"

Brent replied, "We're taking my truck. It's got the most room, remember?"

Kel smiled, "Sure. That's right. I forgot. Sorry." he winced.

Dixie narrowed her eyes.

Brent and Kel saw the better part of wisdom and kept silent for the trip out to the patient pick-up entrance.

"You are going to relax..." Dixie warned.

"Of course." Brackett grinned widely.  
"Would we lie to you .. of all people?" Brent blinked innocently as both men spoke at the same time.

Just as quickly, Kel escaped Dixie's wheelchair.

Kel and Brent hastily loaded their gear into the copper colored truck. There wasn't much of it, and the truck still had plenty of room just in case they needed it for anything else. Kel finished stashing his duffle and he said, "I'll be right back, dad. I'm going to grab my water.. I forgot it in the--"

Dixie held up his bottle of spring water that she had put into her pocket. "Looking for this?" she said, waving it before his eyes.  
Brent nodded, "Yes, he was. We're gonna need it for his Sphagonium.." the elder Brackett said, taking it from her playful hand. "Here, Kel. Water it if you wouldn't mind."

"His what?" McCall asked.

"The get-well plant I got him from the gift store.. See?"  
said Brent.. and he reached into the back load hauler and pulled out a blue foil wrapped large tropical leaved plant. Almost startling, he used his other hand to swiftly cover up the fishing poles that had become exposed from the wind where the tie down tarp had slipped before Dixie's prying eyes could see them. Neatly, he jumped into the driver's seat, as Kel got in, who was shaking out the excess water he had poured into the plant's potting soil.

"Ready?" asked Kel.

Brent grinned broadly, "Yep."

"Do nothing!" Dixie hollered out as they pulled away.

"We'll do nothing....." Brent said, calling after her.

"....much!" said Kel, mischieviously added.

They left behind Dixie's mortified, I-was-fooled expression behind in the darkness of dusky sunset.

Brent pulled onto the freeway and headed for their destination. Brent was quiet, which concerned Kel. "Dad, is everything okay?"

Brent quickly recovered, "Everything's fine, Kel.  
Just a bit whipped from the week at work."

Kel sighed, "I hear that. Why don't we trade spots now that Dixie's not here. Then you can lay back and catch a few zzzz's. It'll be a bit before we get to our destination."

Brent stifled a yawn. "Sounds good. Wake me up if you need anything."

Kel smiled, "I will, dad."

Soon, the truck was silent except for Brent's soft snoring. Kel kept a close eye on the road, his senses heightened as usual when he was out in traffic.

Two hours north of Torrance, Kel pulled off the paved road on to a dirt one. The change in terrain woke Brent who had been sleeping sound. It took a minute for the elder Brackett to regain his bearings before he asked, "Where are we?"

Kel smiled, "Almost there, dad."

Brent woke up more and took in the scenery. He was stunned silent. Minutes after Kel pulled off the paved road, he stopped. In front of him was a lake shore. Around the car on the other side, was a small clearing, in a grove of pine trees. Kel shut the car off, turned to his dad and said, "Dad, we're here."

Brent was stunned as the duo climbed out of the truck.  
"K-Kel, this is amazing. This isn't where I thought we'd be."

Kel just grinned, "Glad you like it, dad."

Brent smiled, "I don't just like it, I love it!"

The sun was already long gone as father and son unloaded the truck. Kel said, "Hey dad, do you want to just eat what we brought tonight and hit the lake in the morning?"

Brent looked around appreciably before he answered, "Yeah that's probably best. That'll save battery power on the outboard's running lights."

Kel and Brent went to work making a fire outside the cabin Kel had reserved and the two started cooking dinner. In no time flat, they had eaten Dinty Moore stew and were headed for the sack. Both were fatigued from the trip in and all their sneaky planning to get away from Dixie's clutches.

--------------------------------------------------------

Kel was awake the next morning before his father. He quickly set to work making breakfast and packing the boat for the day on the lake. Brent awoke to the smell of brewing coffee and a freshly made meal.

Kel smiled as his dad finally exited the porch. "Good morning, dad."

Brent blinked to adjust his eyes to the light. "Morning Kel, sleep well?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Some of the best sleep I've had in quite a while."

"Better than mine has been for the last week. The beds at the hospital are atrocious. Breakfast is ready."

"Aren't they made that way to hurry up recovery periods?"

"Most likely.." Kel laughed. "Go ahead and crush my ego.  
I thought my patients got well fast because of my skill in medicine."

"It's in combination.." the elder Brackett finessed.  
Brent smiled as Kel handed him a fresh cup of coffee. "Thanks. It smells good. What are we having?"

"Eggs and bacon with this coffee chaser."

Brent smiled, "Sounds wonderful. But isn't coffee off your menu now?"

"Shhhh.." said Kel. "How can I get a pressure spike surrounded by all of this? It's a tranquilizer just being outside.."

As the duo ate, Brent finally asked the question that had been bugging him since the day before, "Kel, how did you find this spot?"

Kel smiled warmly, "Honestly, dad. One of my friends, Captain John Gage found it for me. Not long after he was promoted, he dragged me up here after a really h*llish week. Then I came back up here after mom died last year to get my head back on straight before I went back to work. We're in Santa Rosa County."

The mention of Kel's mother and Brent's late wife quieted them down some but both shook the feeling off. Breakfast and cleanup was peaceful as they woke the rest of the way up. Once all was in order and put back away, Kel asked, "Ready to hit the lake?"

Brent smiled, "You bet. We've a lot of hours to make up."  
he said, peering at the sun rising over the trees.

"About twenty years worth by my reckoning." Kel grinned.

Both doctors met eye to eye and a moment of unspoken deep devotion passed between them. The first in a very, very long time. The older Brackett held out his hand to help the still tired Kel over a large root on the path.  
"Shall we get started then, son?"

"Sounds good to me, old man." his son winked.

Brent laughed out loud. "Let's go!" beamed Kel.

-------------------------------------------------------

Kel had already loaded the gear in the boat along with a small cooler of sandwiches and soft drinks. Father and son headed down to the lake. In minutes, the boat was launched and the new fishing day had begun.

Brent asked, "Kel, how are you feeling?"

Kel knew his dad was still worried after his hypertension scare. "I'm good. I took my medication like a good pre-senior citizen and I'm ready for a day on the lake and hopefully I'm also gonna bag a lot of fish."

Brent looked Kel in the eye and smiling softly, he said, "You will."

Kel and Brent made their way to the middle of the lake and threw out the anchor. Once their lines were baited and in the water, it was time to just sit back, relax and talk.

Only distant muted birdsong, the lulling melody of rippling waves and the scent of warming pine needles filled the air.

A brief, slightly awkward moment intruded over them before Kel looked at his father with a complex expression. "Dad..."

Brent softened quickly, "Yeah Kel?"

Kel's voice softened, "Thank you."

Brent was stunned, "For what?"

"For coming out here with me. We've needed to do this for so long.  
Then I got sick and I got to thinking about things. I actually didn't know if we'd ever get the chance to do this again."

"Come on, Kel. You weren't dying."

"Sure felt like it. I felt like WE were, dad. Our relationship. And I'm glad we decided to change that."

Brent squeezed Kel's arm, "You're welcome, my boy. You're the only son I've got and we're the only family we have left. Each other."

Kel burst out laughing. "That's until Dixie joins the fray.."

Brent went goggle eyed. "You didn't."

"Not yet. But I'm going to."

"Good. She's sassy, foxy, and I know she's got what it takes to keep you in line. A woman's touch. That was my mistake when I tried to do the same thing while you were growing up..."

Kel's smile faded.

"Can you ever forgive me?" Brent said, not looking away from his bobber. Brent's breath caught in his throat. Brent's words tore at Kel's heart. He hadn't realized how much his own mortality had worried his father. "Dad, I never meant to make you worry. And let me make another confession. I've known for years that everybody was telling me I needed to slow down and take it easy. Especially after I went from the emergency room to the head of cardiology. I never listened until my own body said that's it either rest or I'm going to quit on you."

Brent's voice cracked at Kel's words. "Kel, I lost my best friend because HER body quit on her, I know I wouldn't be able to handle your death, too. A son should never die before his father.. Especially not like his mother did."

Father and son grew quiet as each got lost in memories of Anna Rose, the now lost, third side to their private trio for over a year.

As one, both looked up to the sky and each whispered a few words to Anna. As they finished, the sun brightened even more and lit up a flurry of snowy pinion feathers on a soaring eagle, who began sounding a single fluting cry as he greeted the dawn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kel took a deep breath. He hoped he didn't open a very old can of worms with his next question, but it had been weighing on his mind for far too long to go unasked.

Brent relaxed and looked over at Kel, his face still filled with delight at the sight of the tiercel wheeling overhead. Immediately, he could tell something heavy was on his son's mind. "What is it, Kel?"

::Here goes nothing:: thought Kel as he asked, "Can I ask you something that was bugging me while I was in the hospital?"

Brent became immediately concerned and completely focused on Kel.  
"Of course son, go ahead and ask anything, always..." he licked his lips, controlling old habits. "What's on your mind?" he finally asked simply, without the abrasiveness of old.

::Hopefully he takes this well so I don't end up swimming back to shore:: was the next thought that crossed Kel's mind, "Why did you want me to follow you into psychiatry? You never did explain that to me. I remember how we fought tooth and nail about that for way too long, but what I never understood.... was why."

Brent was stunned by Kel's question. Then he was saddened when he realized that Kel was right ::My boy wants a straight answer that he deserves that. Not just professional to professional, but as father to son.::

Brent looked Kel in the eye. Before he could answer the question though, both lines tightened up at once. The heavy question was quickly interrupted by the shouts of "I've got mine!" that echoed completely across the lake as they wrestled their catches into the boat. A sleek pair of speckled brownies danced on the metal, drumming out their anger inside the hastily cast net.

The rest of the day was just ..like.. that. Each time Brent would go to answer Kel's question, the fishing lines would get busy.

As the sun when down over lake, the question still hung in the air. Kel wanted to know the answer, but then both became refocused on future days' dinner whenever one tried to escape from the gill leader cord they had floating in the water. Kel finally headed for the shoreline when they couldn't take any more trout. He was about to speak when the anchor was fully aboard, but he held his tongue when he saw his father trying to fight off his emotions.

Kel made it obvious that he had noticed and he said gently, "Dad, talk to me."

Brent looked up with pure pain in his eyes. Kel immediately shut the boat off roughly, two hundred yards from shore. He squeezed his dad's shoulder, but stayed silent. Brent was in the old, still fresh agony and Kel knew it, too, just as sharply.

Finally Brent spoke, with his voice full of emotion, "I...I miss her, Kel. I miss her every single day... And it's not fair. We fought off everything together. You, Anna Rose, and I, but we couldn't win that final fight."

Kel's rough exterior crumbled to the bottom of the boat as he bear hugged his father. Brent didn't resist the hug, but fell into it as he fought a long hidden, still losing battle with his emotions. Kel tightened his grip on his father's neck and he whispered, "I miss her, too, dad. I miss her every minute. But I know she'll be there .  
when I finally get off my butt, and propose to Dixie. But what I wouldn't give to hear her voice again when I finally call you to tell you when the official day is when Dixie and I begin our new lives together."

Brent now spoke through tears, "She'll be thrilled son. She always did love Dixie. But I know one other thing."

Kel picked his head up, but kept the grip on his dad. "What's that?"

Brent smiled through the tears, "No matter how much neither of us wants to admit it, she was the top boss of us all and she still is. We've got to take care of each other or your mom's gonna give us a heaping load of cr*p when we see her again."

Kel chuckled as he wiped his moist eyes, "You've got that so right."

Brent chuckled as he calmed down. "Getting hungry yet?"

Kel smiled lightly, "After burning off all this energy on sappy emotional stuff? What are you trying to get at? Convincing me to be a lawyer again?"

"That was just an inside joke. Everybody knows lawyers aren't heroic about anything."

"And doctors are?"

"As psychiatrists aren't.... That's my point. Back then. And now. You're something special, son. Never forget that."

Brent smiled, "How 'bout us city boys get ourselves in long enough to go fry some fish. Then afterwards, we can hit the sack if we get tired."

Kel's smile brightened, "Do you feel tired?"

"No. I feel alive. I think, for the first time in my life."

They finished the trip to shore.

The night went on with dinner and then lights out, without that earlier annoyingly interrupted question, being answered. Kel really wanted to know it.

On the other side of the fire and the Brackett fence, Brent didn't quite know how he was going to give his answer to his newly aging son.

-  
The next morning was time to head home. Father and son laughed and joked anew as they packed the pickup. The cooler was full of the catch they hadn't eaten all of from dinner, the night before.

Kel and Brent took in a few last deep breaths of fresh pine pitched air, and headed out.

The truck tire-rocked Brent to sleep as Kel drove. Kel glanced at his father and smiled....and was jolted when a screeching of tires ahead of them billowed clouds of stinking burning rubber when a nail blew open the driver's rear tire on the car a few lengths ahead of them.

They watched in horror as the small blue Pinto careened into a bush.

Kel slammed on his brakes and followed its path onto the margin.

"Dad! Call in for help from that call box. I'm gonna go check them out!" Kel said, running for the other car with a kit in hand.

Brent made the call, reporting what they had seen.

A minute later, Kel returned, dusty, but smiling ruefully.  
"They're okay. Shaken but in one piece. Nobody hurt."  
Then he noticed his father's complexion.  
"Dad, you okay?"

Brent was stunned, "I'm fine, Kel. Wow. That could have been bad."

Kel smiled, "Yep. Man, I forgot the rush you get when you think you're gonna have to use your emergency medicine on scene."

Brent took a quick breath and thought ::Here it goes.:: "Kel, you remember the question you asked me yesterday that I never got to answer because the lake started jumping?"

Kel took a quick breath unsure of what his dad was getting at. "Yeah dad, I asked you why you wanted me to follow you into psychiatry."

Brent took another breath, "To be honest son, I've been trying to answer that question myself for quite a while. I always dreamed of the two of us having a practice together, so I was thrilled when you wanted to get into medicine. I was floored when you got into Johns Hopkins,  
but then as you know, I got angry as a beehive when you told me you were going into general and emergency medicine."

Kel said quietly, "Uh,..I know you were, dad. That's all old hat."

Brent looked at out of the corner of his eye at Kel. Kel turned to face his dad when he felt his gaze as Brent spoke. "Kel, please. Just hear me out. I...I've come to realize over the past day and night, that I was... probably being a selfish, ignorant windbag back then."

Kel was caught off guard, "Oh?"

Brent continued, "I still wanted to have a practice with you, but just now, after watching you in action a few minutes ago, I realize you definitely went into the right field for you. I don't know many people who could do what you just did without a second thought for their own safety. I mean you stopped and were already halfway out the door before you even asked me to call the dispatcher's."

Kel blushed to his toes. "Dad, it was instinct. Even though I now work most of the time upstairs, my heart is always going to be with emergency medicine and the paramedic program I started a decade ago. To think I almost put the kabash on the program in the beginning.  
Each day, I realize that there is an ever growing need for it. I've even come up with a new line of rescuers. Have I ever explained what an EMT is to you?"

Brent smiled warmly as he closed the lid on the call box. "Your heart's in the right place, Kel.  
Don't let anybody ever tell you different even if it IS me."

Kel smiled warmly as he realized his father really had finally come to terms with his chosen field and his heart's passion.

Brent shut their truck off. "Now, Doctor Brackett.. Go take care of your almost-patients."

Kel turned to Brent, "Thanks, dad." Kel smiled, "On my way, Doctor Brackett. But, eh, I'm sure they could use the comforting hand of a shrink just now. They did suffer a shock or two emotionally."

"Quite right."

Kel got out of the truck and was followed back to the steaming car by his father. Brent watched proudly as Kel jumped into his work, making sure no injuries were cropping up.

Brent looked up at the trill of an eagle's call and thought to himself ::Anna Rose, I know you always said it, and I realize now that you were right all along. Kel never belonged upstairs with me, he belonged right in the middle of the chaos of an emergency room or out here in the street helping others. Remember that I love him like I love you.... Always::

Brent cut through the brush to go pluck a screaming toddler out of his automatically functioning mother's hands. "Give me the little guy, ma'am. I know just how to handle sons."

"You sure do, dad. You sure do." Kel whispered, smiling.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: The cabin from On Golden Pond.

Photo: A lake lit up with a dawn glow.

Photo: A bright rainbow colored trout on the grass.

Photo: Two boated fishermen awash in the light of a red sunset on a still lake.

Photo: Trout frying in a pan.

Subject: Let The Games Begin!  
Date: Now From: Patti and Erin ETL Hosts USA

Roy, Johnny and Hank liked visiting so much in the impromptu way they had worked the system, that they decided to do it again, right after the next captain s meeting, which ironically, had been held at Station 51 s.

"How s Kel Brackett doing?" asked Hank, when all the other captains and his own regular men had left.

"He s been discharged. No problems." Roy sighed with relief. "But Dixie s real mad for some reason about it and neither Johnny nor I can fathom the reason why."

Gage just started chortling. "I know why. They re fighting again. Just like we figured a long time ago."

"What makes you think that?" DeSoto said, getting on the defensive. "Just because two people are effianced doesn t mean they re immune to having disagreements anymore..." Roy said in exasperation.

"Well, why not?" Gage asked. "They love each other, don t they?"

Roy started to say something, but then he just threw up his hands. "Hank, you re a married man, too.  
Why don t YOU tell him..."

"Don t look at me. I m out of this one for my continued sanity s sake."

Both Roy and Gage sighed in frustration, irritated.

Cap just raised his eyebrows and shrugged, long immune to the effects of his old crewmates manipulations.

Tired of the silence, Johnny looked up and saw a lone deck of cards laying on the far end of the table.

Johnny smiled, "Hey, Cap."

Hank smiled at Johnny s use of his nickname. "Yeah, pal?"

Johnny eyed the deck of cards, "You guys still play?"

Hank and Roy both looked up and followed Johnny s line of sight. Hank grinned, "Actually, yeah, we do Johnny."

Roy chuckled, "What, Captain Junior? Did you finally figure out how to win without dish pan hands?"

Johnny laughed, "Nah, Captain Pally, I was just remembering an old call we went on."

Roy looked surprised, "Oh no! You don t mean that idiot M.I. who didn t want to go into the hospital until you agreed to play that poker hand for him, do you?"

Amused, Hank sat back remembering the aftermath of that call, but curious to hear more about it since it had been a paramedic squad only call. "I just remember what little I read on your very short incident report. Can you guys fill me in?"

Roy and Johnny smiled. Roy spoke first, "I ll start and then let Johnny finish since I wasn t there for the end of it."

Hank smiled, "Okay."

Roy said, "We got called out to a possible heart attack. When we got there we found this group of guys that had been playing poker all night. The one guy was not looking good at all. We worked him up and he needed to go to the hospital. And he actually fought with us about that, ... like a kid fights with the dentist."

Hank chuckled.

Johnny picked up with a far away look in his eyes. "The only way the guy would go in, was if one of us played the end of his hand for him. I knew he needed to be at Rampart so I... volunteered."  
he said, looking for all the world like a jogger who just ate a fly.

Hank couldn t bite back a comment, "Gage, I know your history with poker here. Why did you go and do a stupid thing like that?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

Roy chuckled.

Johnny blushed to his toes, "Cap, the guy had to go in. He was gray and throwing off PVC s faster than.. well, faster than anything. I thought I might have better luck for him since none of those there knew me at all."

Hank coughed on a sip of coffee and waved the guys off, trying not to laugh. Roy was biting back one, too, as Johnny continued, oblivous to his friends actions as he fidgeted with the deck of playing cards in his hand.

"Anyway, " Johnny muttered distastefully. "I sat down and was under the impression this guy had a decent hand or something, because of the way he was fighting to leave so hard, so I grinned. Man, was I wrong! He had a pile of garbage bigger than I EVER had here, and I was stuck with my promise to that guy. I couldn t fold."

Gage suffered an immediately flashback to the game and suddenly it was back to the moment it happened.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnny sat down at the table and looked at the cards he picked up. ::Oh my G*d, this hand smells worse than Chet s cooking. I did this to save somebody s life?! If he doesn t kill me later on for messin up, these guys will now!::

His eyes wandered over the money and chip pile and in his head, he began adding up everybody s ante ed dollar amounts. ::Holy cow! Seventy hundred five dollars are in the pot?!::

The bet came around to Johnny. He limped into the pot with the minimum bet. Johnny s face reflected pure professionalism even though the alarmist part of his weaker brain knew that he was in deep trouble.

The dealer chain smoking to his left said, "I call."

Everybody at the table flipped over their cards. Johnny had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. The guy had bluffed seriously. On his right, the guy had ten high. Across the table the guy had king high. The dealer had queen high. Johnny was stunned, he held ace high. Only just.

And by doing nothing, he had managed to win the night long covetted pot.

Gage tried very hard to keep the rest of his body from shaking as badly as his hands were doing.

The rest of the table grumbled when they realized their dear departed friend had bluffed them out of some major bucks. The thick black framed eyeglassed dealer voiced everybody s opinion. "I don t eff-ing believe it. That little sh*t was actually bluffing us for the first time ever!"

Johnny stood as the guy across from him gaped. "He didn t just bluff you, he took you to school. I m calling the game for today. I can t play any more. By the law, I can t accept or lose any cash. Besides, I m on duty..." Gage grinned lopsidedly.

The others nodded, quite respectfully.

Right then, Marco sailed into the house. "Johnny, they re gone, ready to go? I got the squad idling." he said, tipping his helmet up.

"Yeah, I m ready." he hollered back. "Go wait in the cab for me a sec!"

Johnny smiled apologetically. "Sorry guys, gotta go." he said, grabbing his HT, helmet and turnout. "Uh, .. who s gonna save the goods?" he asked, indicating the money he hadn t touched.

"I will. I m his banker. He trusts me with his life." said another player, who was rising from the table and putting on his hat.

"No, he actually trusts my partner today, who s saving his.  
...heh." Gage said, unable to resist the temptation.

The dealer said, "Hey, man. We re not arguing. Listen, Mickey s gonna give him his money. You guys go take care of his heart.  
We ll take care of the rest of this game and take Bradley to the cleaners the NEXT time we get together." he said, sounding for all the world like a gangster.

Gage didn t wait around to find out whether or not there was a gun in somebody s lap that was getting its safety cocked back into place. He bailed.

Johnny nodded as cordially as he could, grabbed the rest of the gear Roy had deemed non critical, and said, "Yes, sir." Clearing his hands to cover his butt, Johnny made tracks out of the room.

------------------------------------------------------------

Hank and Roy had to catch each other to keep from falling out of their chairs for laughing so hard. When they regained the ability to speak, Roy spoke first. "You told me he was bluffing, but I didn t realize it was that bad. That s insane."

"Hey, I didn t deal the cards. I just played them and hoped I wouldn t lose my shirt." Johnny scoffed. "Or my life s blood.  
Literally." he said seriously.

Hank chuckled. "Hey, pal, maybe you should play more hands like that at other mafia houses. You might have better luck at the games here."

Johnny scowled.

Roy s mirth tearing eyes caught the very worn red USC sticker affixed on the top of the TV set in the corner, that was miraculously, somehow, still working. "Speaking of games we should of had better luck with..." and he began to point.

Johnny spun around and followed Roy s sight line until he, too, saw the familiar sports emblem. He coughed on his drink. "Oh man, that thing? I ve been tortured with not knowing THAT answer for six whole years now.. Geez.."

Hank had a rough idea what his former paramedics were talking about but he wanted to make sure. "Boys, are you remembering that debacle that you guys suffered when you worked the big Stanford Cardinals game all day but never learned who won?"

Roy and Johnny groaned as they turned back to Hank. Johnny replied, "The one and the same, Cap."

Hank blinked for several seconds, and commented, "I felt bad for you guys about that."

Roy said, "Thanks, Cap." He began to gesture gimme hands, but Stanley seemed not to understand his drift.

Hank smirked, "Yeah, that s right." he sighed, leaning back into his armchair. "When we watched it, I was wondering if you guys were going to come back in one piece. Gage that tackle you took must have smarted something fierce, didn t it?"

The trio got a far away look in their eyes as they remembered back to the game that nobody got to see the end of.

-  
Johnny turned to Roy, "Man, partner, can you believe our luck? The one game we end up working this year is the biggest one around."

Roy grinned, "No, I can t , Johnny. I ve been looking forward to this game since they announced the schedule for the Trojans."

The guys grabbed some basic gear from the squad, locked it up and headed for the Coliseum. Johnny looked around at the growing crowd and commented, "You weren t the only one, Pally.  
Man, would you look at this crowd? There must be ten thousand people here."

Roy looked around and then mumbled, "At least. Let s just hope they play nice so we can enjoy the game, too."

The boys checked in and were excited to learn they were going to spend the first half on the field, the second they would trade with another squad and head for the stands. They were stunned when they found out that not only were on the field, they were on the fifty yard line. The two couldn t wipe the grins off of their faces as they headed for their posting.

After the pre-game colors ceremony, the boys settled in for the rest of the day. They cheered right along with the crowd, but were always on alert in case something happened that wasn t caught by spotters in the announcer s booth for on the field or either sideline.

Just before half time, the away team quarterback handed off to his running back. Johnny and Roy had moved to standing on the team bench to see better once some of the bigger lineman started standing in their way.

The new vantage point provided them with a better view, but proved that it had absolutely no stability to it, at all. The running back headed toward the out of bounds, blinded by the sun, with a head full of steam. The Stanford safety bowled into the running back and set him flying even deeper into the out of play zone.

Roy yelled, "Watch it!..." but he was cut off before he could say more as the two players plowed into their bench. The force of the impact sent the guys and the players toppling over each other into one big flailing heap.

The players quickly sprang off of the paramedic, murmuring apologies. Johnny sat up first. "Hey, Roy, you okay?"

Roy sat up and brushed himself off. "Yeah, Johnny, you?"

Johnny stood up and smiled, "Yeah, although I d rather fly in a plane than off a bench."

Roy groaned at Johnny s humor as he got back to his feet. The rest of their medical calls for the first half proved to be steady, but satisfying. Every once in a while Roy and Johnny would catch a bit of the crowd s enthusiasm over a hot play or two.

-----------------------------------------------------

But the big game s second half, kept the boys futilely hoping, and deep in the stands.

The game was getting closer and more tense and energetic as it neared the end. And neither sunburned fireman wanted to even mention getting a call so they didn t jinx themselves.

With less than three minutes left, the score was 21-20 home advantage. Suddenly, their HT called them out to a possible cardiac, in their own crowd medical monitor booth.

The boys swiftly booked through the stands and cared for their male patient. And later, as they loaded the sick announcer into the ambulance, Johnny took a look back toward the roaring stadium. ::I wonder if we ll get back here today in time for the outcome?::

-  
The sports reverie faded out and everything righted itself back to present day station 51.

Hank asked, "Did you guys get to see the end of the game?"

Roy shook his head, "Nope, Cap..."

Johnny cut Roy off, "The place looked like a ghost town by the time we got back. We never did find out who won either."

Hank grinned slyly, "I know who did..." he dangled.  
"I read about it a few months after the fact."

Johnny and Roy s jaws dropped. Johnny said, "Out with it, Cap, we ve waited long enough."

Hank s grin grew, "Stanford held on, 21-20, but it was a real nail biter of a heart attack, no pun intended of course."

Roy and Johnny grinned as Johnny drummed his fingers on the table. "So we DID see what mattered in the end. Good deal!"

The guys refilled their drinks for a fourth consecutive time. Hank commented as they sat back down, "Boys, I wish I could get us all back together every week. This has been truly awesome."

Roy smiled, "Hey, Cap, how bout my place this weekend?  
We haven t gotten our old group together since..."

Roy s voice dropped off and his smile faded quickly.

Everybody knew right then, the reason for the downward change in mood. And nobody wanted to revisit that past with any relish. Sighing, the captains pushed away their coffee mugs without lifting them again, and entered pain.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Johnny doing the dishes in an apron in the kitchen.

Photo: Cap grinning in amusement from a chair.

Photo: Johnny caring for a sick man, lying down, nose to nose.

Photo: Gage frowning at playing cards in his hand.

Photo: Roy and Johnny looking up and pointing into the sky.

Photo: The guys at a football game, ecstatic.

Photo: Johnny shouting, Who won?! across an empty stadium.

*  
From: patti keiper Date: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:57 pm Subject: The Dark, and The Light

"That day started happily enough, didn't it?" Gage asked,  
his eyes filling.

"It sure did. That was also the day that basket of Boot's get was handed over by that angry house owner. Wasn't it only a couple of hours then before she arrived, too?" Roy recalled.

"Yeah. Who can ever forget Felicia.." Cap smiled gently as all of them drifted away into her still sharp memory..

*  
From : Roxy Dee Sent : Thursday, December 21, 2006 12:49 AM Subject : Puppies and Partners~~

(From Episode Forty, Canine Capers )

Chet Kelly's mouth dropped open when he found the cause of all the scratching they had been hearing echoing through the vehicle bay off and on all morning. "Say, Cap. You're not gonna believe this."

"I'm not gonna believe what?" Hank hollered from inside his office. "Did you set those d*mn*d mouse traps like I asked you to, yet? I don't want those nasty germ ridden vermin to get anywhere near those pups of Roy's. Got it?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to come out here and see the cause of all the noise for yourself, Cap."

There was a hasty rustle of paper and a firm bang from a hastily hung up phone receiver before Hank finally joined Kelly and the rest of the gang by the back garage door, now auto-retracted open.

Cap skidded to a halt half way across the open floor where the squad usually parked. "How'd they get here? I- I.. I thought Bonnie was with her real owner and Boot was still holed up at 110's."

Henry woofed a sudden greeting as he trucked out the kitchen door to greet the two "old" newcomers to what was now his fire station.

Boot and Bonnie gleefully began to chase him, recognizing his current king-ship with an all out play feint, darting around and around the gang's legs, and wildly dashing in and out under the Ward fire engine.

"Hey, knock it off all you hairy, four-legged twits. You'll wake the puppies!"  
Hank roared.

All three dogs screeched to a halt, and regarded Cap's face with surprise.

Then their mouths fell into happy grins and they made an immediate beeline for the bunkroom, with Henry leading the way, to where the basket of dalmation puppies was being kept inside Henry's doghouse.

"Oh no, no.. no.. no.. no!" hollered Cap in a vain attempt to stop them.

"Cap, let em go. They're all fire dogs. They know better than to wake sleeping babies, don't they?" Marco asked.

Hank ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "Let's just hope you're right, Lopez. Last thing I need is a pack of overexcited puppies running around the station, piddling all over the place."

"Yeah, aren't we glad we've got just the concrete and tile flooring." Chet quipped.

Hank nailed him with a glare. "For that you've got puppy bottle feeding and their latrine detail until the pound gets here to take them away for Adoption Day on Friday." he fumed.

"Hey, take it easy. I'll do it. I'll do it. Geesh, what is there about today to get all worked up about? It's not like we've had any engine calls yet to go on this morning." Kelly groused.

"You want to know why I'm all worked up? I'll tell you why I'm all worked up. Your ever loving crewmates just agreed to Wish host a little girl at the station for a week so she can learn enough to write a final semester report for her fifth grade class about firemen lifesavers. That's why.."

Stoker, Marco and Kelly all went thoughtful. Then...

"Cool." said Stoker.

"She'll be someone nice for all the dogs to play with. And the puppies, too."  
said Marco.

"Right on, man. She's more than welcome here. I'll hang the privacy curtains myself." declared Chet. "When's she coming?"

"She's on her way right now." Cap said, all of the hot air leaking out of his sails in the face of his men's open and honest enthusiasm for the added complication to their day to day routine. Then he sneezed. Hard.  
"OhHHhh. Not again." he grimaced, snatching a hand up to his face quickly to catch a trickle from an active bloody nose.

Mike whipped out a handerchief and handed it to Hank. "Did you forget to use the Vaseline Roy and Johnny left out for you last night to coat your sinuses from all the dry winter air, Cap?"

"Yes. I had a ton of paper work to do last night and this morning." Hank grumbled. He coughed wetly when blood finally worked its way back and into his throat. "I don't have time for this.." he sputtered.

The guys led him over to the radio receiving alcove and over to the garbage can resting there under the writing shelf.

"Spit it out. I'll go get some ice." said Kelly. " Then sit down on the bench. Stoker went to grab more dressings so we can pack you off on that side before you drip out onto your uniform."

Kelly ran off and disappeared into the kitchen. The engineer began digging through the engine compartments for their road side first aid kit.

Cap sighed, watching him, and then he sat dutifully. He began leaning forward to clear out his mouth into the garbage can they had given him.

He was still sitting there when the front doors opened to admit the squad, Roy, Johnny and a tiny new passenger sitting in between them.

"She's here already. Ah, isn't she a little darling." said Marco, rising from where he had been crouching next to Cap. "Well, hello there little miss. Welcome to Station 51. What's your name? Como te llama?" he asked.

From: "Patti" Date: Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:09 am Subject: The Angelic Act..

The girl before Marco was pale, but she smiled like the sun only an instant after he did. "Am I really here?" she asked excitedly,  
brushing long wavy curls out of her tom boy like face. Her eyes were brown and she seemed to be of half Italian descent.

Johnny Gage, seated next to her, took off his helmet and hung it on the hook behind him in the cab. "Yep. You sure are. And your mother's right behind us. She went to go park your station wagon in the back." said Johnny, getting out of his side of the squad.

The petite girl frowned briefly and made a small face of disappointment.

Roy clarified matters. "Don't worry. Your ma'll only be here for a little while to sign some permission papers. Then it'll be just seven of us, for a week, like we promised." He wiggled fingers to get the girl's attention in order to help her climb across the middle seat into his arms for a lift down. "And this handsome gentleman fireman addressing you.. is Mr. Marco Lopez."

"Hola, Marco. I'm afraid my spanish isn't so good yet. But I keep trying."  
she said, accepting Marco's greeting handshake.

Lopez chuckled. "That's all right. I can give you a few handy pointers over tacos. You like those? That's what's for lunch in about fifteen minutes." he offered.

"Thanks, Marco. I like tacos. I'm Felicia. I'm sorry I can't tell you my last name. Mom says only the captain gets to know that. And any doctors, if I gotta go see some for another tune up while I'm here. Thank you everybody for granting my Wish. Don't worry. I'm an A student. I promise I'll write a really, really good report and I won't say anything bad. I can't if I want to get to the sixth grade. I'll let you read it before I hand it in to my teacher, Mrs. Mulligan."

"Sounds like you have everything squared away except for putting down the actual words, Felicia." said Marco.

"I've been thinking about what to say for a long time, but I know I need a little more time seeing how everybody here works at their job to get everything exactly right." said the little girl, touching the side flasher on the squad's door with undisguised curiosity.

A new voice piped up. "You've come to the right place. We're the busiest fire station around these parts." Mike Stoker slammed shut an engine door loudly and that was when the three of them noticed that he had a portable first aid kit in his hands.

Johnny looked up, casting a glance around for the reason why. A few seconds later, they noticed a forlorn Cap parked on the wooden bench next to the soda machine by the large wall map near the office. "What happened to him?" Gage asked Marco, when he spotted the blood soaked cloth in Hank's hand as it sat over his nose.

Roy's eyebrows went up, too. "Did he lose a tug of war rope game with Henry or something?"

"Nah. He forgot to apply his schnoz lube last night." Stoker shrugged. "Things aren't too annoying yet. Chet's getting some ice for him to put on his forehead."

Felicia's mouth fell into an "O" of concern and she padded quickly across the garage space to get to him. "Oh, I'm sorry." she said to Cap. "I get nose bleeds, too, on my bad days. Here, I know just how to handle them. Want me to help you with it?" she asked Hank. "I know just how to get them to stop. Fast."

Cap's eyebrows furrowed into brief puzzlement before amusement began to surface. "Be my guest." he told their young charge as he kicked the bloody garbage can under the bench where she couldn't get too near it.

Felicia reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag which she put on like a glove to wear. Then she dug that thumb against the side of Cap's nose until it closed off just his one bleeding nostril. Then she used her free hand to hold and grip the back of his neck gently. "I'm going to squeeze a bit back here, ok?" she said, digging her fingers deeper into his thick curly hair.

"Sure..Anything you say." Hank told her, trying not to laugh out loud. He even leaned forward further so she could reach the back of his head even easier. Hank held still when she began to lightly massage the area where his skull met his neck bones. "Ughhff. Ow?" he said when he began to feel a tingling pressure under his skin and the tightening of muscles he didn't even know he had somewhere deep inside his forehead.

"That means it's working." Felicia told him. "Only a little bit more." she told him quietly. "My bleeds quit right away when I do this."

Roy and Johnny gathered around, pursing their mouths shut in growing amusement where they stood watching the whole affair as they both leaned against the side of the squad.

"Here you go, Cap." said a returned Chet a few seconds later, handing off the ice bag. He only hesitated briefly at the sight of the girl who was apparently effectively treating Cap. Hank took the bag from Kelly but he didn't use it. He let it stay dangling between his knees.

Felicia let go when Cap began to clench his eyes shut against the tingling.  
"Ok. It's stopped." she told him, letting him go.

Cap instinctively brought the handkerchief up to his face again but the strong trickling didn't return. He breathed in experimentally. "There's not even a clot inside." he told the paramedics. "Thanks miss. Wow, I feel like a new man." he said, standing back up onto his feet.

Roy and Johnny's eyes grew wide and they both briefly examined the truth of what Cap reported with their probing penlights. "Really? The bleeding's over?" Gage asked.

"Yep. Incredible. Usually these last a half an hour or more for me. How did you do that?" Cap asked the little girl.

"I just want people to get better. And then they just do." she shrugged.

Stoker smiled. "Sounds like Dixie at the hospital's been a big influence on you."

"Oh, she has. But this is something I've always been able to do." said Felicia.

"Then I'm very glad you got here. We wouldn't have had any fun at all if I couldn't eat lunch because of my nose." Hank said, tweeking hers. He peeled the blood smeared bag off Felicia's hand and tossed it away into the waste can along with the unused ice bag. Then he shoved the whole mess into Chet's stomach. "Here, Kelly. Make yourself useful and go clean that up for me. I've got an introduction to make. Come on, miss. Let's go find a sink to wash off a bit first. Then let's go meet your mom for that necessary meeting before we chase her away for good. Are you ready for a lot of company besides us? There are nine fire dogs hiding someplace around the station. And six of them... are puppies." he told her.

"Puppies? I like puppies almost as much as I love horses." Felicia crowed.

Gage cleared his throat.  
"Yeah, well, we'll get your horse fix in sometime this week, too. And that shopping spree on our off days. I've got a ranch and four mustangs just waiting around, bored, at home." said Johnny.

Felicia giggled and nodded eagerly at the suggestion. Then she followed Cap politely into the locker room.

A woman who could only be the girl's mother came out of the kitchen where Marco had fetched her at a ring of the doorbell. "You think she'd have chosen Disneyland or Universal Studios for her final fling at the world." said the woman bravely. "But no, she wanted to stay in a firehouse and shadow some paramedics whom she considers her heroes."

"Hello, ma'am." DeSoto and Gage greeted her. "We'll take good care of her. Dixie McCall's taking this time off to be able to stop by each day every few hours to make sure Felicia's vitals stay normal and that all of her medications are taken properly. Does your daughter have any dietary restrictions or other situations we should know about that might effect her ability to get up with us at all hours of the night when we get called out?"

"None that really matter at this point. She has no real physical restrictions, either. Her body tells her when to slow down. The first thing she'll do when that happens is that she'll ask permission to quit whatever's she's doing long enough to go take a nap somewhere in the sun or under a warm blanket. I'm just worried that she'll effect how you'll be able to carry out your normal jobs." said the sad, dimly haunted woman.

"We've got that covered." said Gage. "You see, we have a fireman who's not actually one who drives a truck that's just like ours. His name's Charlie and he's one of our fire department's mechanics. He'll be chaparoning Felicia at all of our response scenes, including watching over her and he'll keep her from the things that she shouldn't be observing as situations warrant. If you'd like, we can have Dixie ride along with the two of them, too, if that'll make you feel more comfortable. We won't be placing her in any danger. Not even in the slightest. For a fact, Dixie's the one who trained both of us when we first started out in the paramedic program five years ago."

Felicia's mother shook her head. "I trust you. Please do whatever you feel's best. For some background, Felicia's father was a....fire chaplain." she breathed deeply. "But he was killed in a freak car accident when Felicia was five. She was in the car with him. That's probably where she got the idea to want to go see the places where he lived his working life when he wasn't off duty and at home with us. Then.. when my daughter got sick a year later, I.... didn't know what to do to help her with that. Not until Dixie came to me last week and told us about the Foundation. Then everything just got miraculously clearer and clearer. And now we're here. I want to thank you for taking her in." said Felicia's mother seriously, but then unbidden tears filled her eyes. She brushed them impatiently away.

"We're glad you came." said Johnny, taking her hand.

Roy smiled. "Did you know your daughter's real good with first aid?"

The mother's eyes remained clouded. "Umm, she was in the girl scouts once."

"Well, she helped out Cap a couple of minutes ago with an intriguing new way to handle a nose bleed. Johnny and I were actually struck speechless and I'll have to admit we were completely dumb founded with the results she ended up with."

The mother dropped her head. "Oh, her "healing." She been doing that since she was a baby. It doesn't matter if it's.... a skinned knee or a headache. When Felicia's around, everybody's pain and suffering seems to...just disappear. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah." said Johnny softly in awe. "We saw that."

The mother looked up with shining eyes when she saw Cap returning from the bathroom with her daughter. "Some days, I think it's so entirely not fair that she'll never grow up to become a nurse or even a doctor. No, it seems like Felicia's one angel that G*d wants back to His side far, far earlier than most."  
With a sharp honk, Charlie the mechanic's horn jarred them as it sounded from the rear. Marco jogged over there, after showing Felicia the way to the kitchen as Cap went into the office with Felicia's mother, and popped open the doors for him.

"Howdy, boys. Is she here yet? Boy am I ready for a day out on the town with a beautiful young lady." Charlie said, polishing his fire department badge nervously. "Which way did she go?"

-  
In the present, Captain Gage chuckled. "Now wasn't Charlie the mechanic a nervous wreck for no reason? I mean, Felicia was a perfect doll.  
And she didn't misbehave at all with us using her illness as an excuse."

"There was something very special about her, even when she was scared."  
Roy said thoughtfully.

"I remember." Johnny said, looking at Roy and trying not to choke up.

"What, uh, what are you guys referring to?" asked Hank.

"Let me tell you, Cap. She had.. such a wisdom about her ...that belied even her tender age." DeSoto said. "We talked about ..the unthinkable.  
That should never happen to a child."

Roy shared his story of the moment his life had been re-galvanized.

*  
From: Voyagerliveaction Staff Date: Wed, Jan 3rd, 2007. 6:00:00 pm Subject: Spotty Situation

"So what we were on was called a mass casualty incident?" asked Felicia to Roy.

"Yep. And we didn't even know we had one until we actually looked into that smashed car. It happens that way sometimes when you least expect it."

"Well, I think you did a nice job running it, even though Captain Stanley hasn't told you that yet face to face. I thought I'd be the first to tell you that since it was my first one ever." she smiled with a derisive no nonsense nod.

"Thanks." said Gage, checking the copter's cabin out and resupplying everything he had used on Mary's grandpa's previous flight from his supply box he had received on landing. "You didn't do so bad yourself.  
We were so surprised and so was Mr. Suder, when Mary started talking again. How'd you convince her to open up again?"

"I knew she wanted to, so I told her by taking her hand that it was her choice. Everyone else she knows always orders her to talk before she's ever ready. She doesn't like that very much. She feels pressured." said Felicia.

"Wow, a budding psychologist, too. I'm impressed." Gage said, patting the cot. "Wanna see what makes up one of these birds as far as patient care? Come on, I'll give you a tour."

"Ok.. I...oh, " and Felicia sat back down again. "Sorry. I ....think I'm getting a little tired on you." she sighed, gasping.

Roy's eyebrows raised. "Short of breath?"

Felicia finally nodded.

"Huh, maybe it's our altitude." DeSoto guessed. "We are up kinda high."

"That's all right. Easy fix." Gage said. "Come over here and we'll have you to rights in a couple of minutes. We'll be done with ya long before we touch down so don't start freaking out on us." he said, patting the cot.

Felicia eyeballed DeSoto getting a hissing mask ready.

"Ohhh, not the O2 therapy thing....again. I thought I .....was doing great....all this week.. not needing it.." she puffed.

"Hey, You think I wasn't puffing today hacking that car apart? I was you know. Look..." and Gage sucked in a few lungfuls on the mask himself, filling his chest. Then he wove and faked a faint on the caretaker's bench. "Whoa.. I think I took too much.." he said, acting dizzy. "Roy, I think I'm kicking the big one..Uhhhhh."  
And he fell over. Then his eyes opened. "Here Felicia, your turn to take a hit." he said miraculously recovering. "I think I'm better." he told her.

Felicia cracked up, laughing so hard that she made the pulse oximeter Roy slipped onto her finger bleep in warning. "Ok, but just for a little while."

"That's cool." said Gage.

A few minutes later Felicia opened her eyes where she lay on the made up cot. "Johnny, Roy? Can I ask you a personal question.  
You..you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I..wouldn't want to make the two of you feel uncomfortable..but, I have to ask this, since...you both see this happening alot...with other people."  
she said, lacing her hands across her chest. She seemed very small under the oxygen mask and for the first time, strangely vulnerable to the two paramedics. It made something deep inside of them, vaguely ache in a pang of emotions.

"You can ask us anything, Felicia. We're friends, aren't we?" Johnny finally said, breaking the silence. He fussed with her hair and pulled some strands out that were tangling the elastic strap of her oxygen mask. Then without asking, he began to braid some pleats up one side of her head. "Go ahead, we're both listening and we don't have to share this with your ma if you don't want us to."

Felicia stared at the ceiling of the chopper and a faraway look filled her eyes as she went someplace that only she understood in her mind.  
"I want...to ask you...what it's like...to die." she said finally, meeting their eyes with her own suddenly haunted ones.

Gage was taken aback and his mouth opened and closed many times,  
but he found he couldn't speak.

"I think I can answer that for you, Felicia. But I don't know if it'll give you the exact answers that you've probably been looking for all this time since you learned of your final diagnosis from your doctors... But I can try." DeSoto whispered.

Wanting silence, Roy pulled the beeping pulse ox off Felicia's finger.  
Then he rubbed his lips and crossed his arms together in front of him in deep contemplation. "I...died once."

"How?"

"On a wire..." Roy answered softly, the distant look still shining in his eyes. "I was dead enough that Johnny and a paramedic trainee found they had to use CPR and a defibrillator on me in order to bring me back to life."

"Did it hurt?"

Roy's face twisted in memory. And doubt. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't. But I wasn't in pain for long, Felicia. And soon, I was feeling..and seeing things that I couldn't quite understand as actually relating to me in any way. But then I felt... more than anything...that I've ever felt... in my entire life."

"What did you feel, Roy? Were you scared?"

"No, I wasn't scared. I knew my friends were there. Trying to help me breathe. And awaken again." DeSoto said. "But...I- I remembered that I felt so alone, while it was all happening.."  
Felicia began to cry silently, silver tears glistening in the growing darkness from the lights of the helicopter controls. But she didn't move. Nor did she take away her tiny hands that were gripping Roy's tightly.

Roy began to smile and his face began to dampen in new tears. "But then I felt surrounded by incredible joy, Felicia. It was endless. There were people there.. that I knew... who had gone before I had. And the joy was ....so deep, that I didn't want to leave it. But I knew it wasn't my time to be there and so I left. I left the moment I felt the shock course through my body and... then Karen said that I was breathing on my own again and Johnny was saying something stupid like.. how's he doing? from somewhere nearby. It...was weird.." Roy said, meeting Felicia's eyes. "Really weird.  
But I can honestly tell you both, that if I were to have to die again.. I...don't think I would fear it. Not at all. For I think I was shown that... death is simply,  
another change of life. A change that just takes us, somewhere else and into another direction where we can continue to grow and learn.  
and love.." he thought carefully.

"I think that answers my question very well. It fits what I think I've seen before at the hospital." the little girl said, drying her eyes. "Now I think I can tell mom that I'm not afraid to die when my time finally does come." she whispered...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was three weeks later at the station house. Dixie McCall was happily bringing the last dalmation pup to her new home when the guys finally asked the question.

"How's our little gal doing, Dixie? Is she still eating up the sight of passing ambulances and fire engines?" Cap asked. "Every time we see one ourselves, we think of her."

"Yeah, we sure do." said Marco.

Dixie's smile never quite went away, but it saddened measurably in newly remembered heart pain. "I'm sorry to say this but uh,...Felicia passed this morning boys, around nine a.m. or so. It was painless, according to her mother and Dr. Brackett." she sighed. "I was there."

The guys didn't know what to say, all they did was reach out and pet the squirming restless puppy, like the nurse was doing, just to have something to do with their hands.

Dixie McCall looked up and her eyes were shining brightly.  
"Do you know.. that you boys were all she could talk about last night?"  
Dixie sniffed, hugging the pup. "Her mother wanted me, uh.. to give you this.  
It's her school paper. The one she said she wanted to write for her Wish."  
she said, digging into her ample purse.

The gang was stunned silent until finally, Chet Kelly held out his hands.  
"We..we're honored to have to this. Can... can.. are we allowed to read it?"

"Of course. That's what it's for, guys. So we can share the world through Felicia's own eyes as she experienced it."

With that softly said, Dixie left on silent shoes.

-  
It was a long time before the gang decided where was the best place. They finally chose the front driveway in front of the station. And before they turned to the first page, they called Charlie, to spend those moments looking through Felicia's eyes with him.

Charlie was nervous. They all were. And just about every fireman held a dog in their laps where they all sat in a circle on the asphalt. Boot, Bonnie and Henry, an ample belly or even just a tiny tail. It didn't matter. The dogs were suddenly needed pillows of support for the sharing to come.

And come it did.

In bright glowing colors and fresh ideas. Talk of the day spent with Johnny on his ranch playing with the horses, and rich technical descriptions of the afternoon wasted playing paramedic with Henry as the patient on the couch.  
Chet's water fight and Charlie's swim with the dalmation puppies. It was all there. And it was happy.

Something that the whole gang felt they couldn't possibly wish for as wanting anything more for fulfilling the dream of one tiny, unique little girl.  
"Hey, you know what else?" burped Charlie from where they leaned on lawn chairs against the fire station garage as they digested ample pots of hot cocoa in memory of Felicia.

"Huh, what's that?" asked Gage.

"Do you know why them dogs of yours were acting so nuts today?"

"They weren't acting nuts today, Charlie. Nah..." said Gage, lying through his teeth.

"Sure they were. You're lying and you know it. I seen the way all your bunks don't got any pillows on them anymore. Ripped them up did theys?  
Heheheheh. Wanna know why? And it wasn't because of no pithling earthquake.  
I'll tell all of yous why. It was a total solar eclipse that happened, that's why."

"When? Today? Huh. And here I thought it was just a power fluctuation on the grid. This morning, right?" Cap sighed.

"Yep. It happened precisely around nine o'clock. On the dot."

Roy and Gage felt a shock at first and then a trickle of warmth, felt deep inside.  
"Right when she died." murmured Johnny and Roy together, as one.

Charlie leaned forward. "What was that?"

"Oh, ...nothing,..nothing... So, what do we want to do today to honor Felicia's life. Keep and name a pup after her?" Roy suggested.

"Nah. Not too original. We'll think of something. And it'll be something truly special." Chet said. "All we have to do is put our heads together and think about it a bit."

Later that night, Johnny had a surprise visitor to his bunk. It was Bonnie.  
"Heya girl, what are you doing up here with me? I thought you sleep with Henry and Boot in Henry's house out back nowadays."

Bonnie just stood up on her haunches and whined delicately.

Understanding at once, Gage swept the tiny Yorkshire into his arms and gave her a hug. "Yeah, I miss her, too." he whispered, kissing Bonnie's head softly. "Shhhh, it's ok. Yes, she's gone. Let's just try and go to sleep. Maybe we'll dream about her." he grinned.

Soon, ...they did.

-  
Captains Roy, Johnny and Hank worked quietly while they did the dishes that were leftover from the donuts that had been served out to everybody at the captains' meeting. The mood in the kitchen was bitter sweet, with memories of Felicia, the little Make A Wish child occupying all of their thoughts.

That's until Gage decided that enough was enough. "Say guys, if anyone's got anything to say about teetering on the edge of death, it's me. Remember? *Hiiiisssss.*" he declared happily, mimicking the sound of a rattlesnake attacking and striking out with his fingers.

"Don't remind us." Roy and Cap said together on one breath. "We've covered that ground before.."

"Yeah, but it's so good in the telling..." Johnny began eagerly.

Just as he was about to spin into his snakebite mishap again for the millionth time, the tones went off.

*EEEeeeOhhhhOOOOOoooooo* ##Battalion Nine with 905 Wild.  
Urban snake nest, also report of an abnormal odor. 1714 N. Wilmington. 1714 N. Wilmington. Cross street, Topanga. Time out: 16: 02.##

"What th--" Gage blurted out. "What kind of call is that?"

Hank started smiling. "The kind that captains check out. We can, you know. Aren't you curious about it?"

"Well, sure but.."

"But nothing. Let's take the squad out there." Stanley said mischieviously.  
"It's only a couple blocks away. Officially, we'll be making a house inspection. For safety checks. If there's a broken window anywhere we have to at least report it to the cops, right? And maybe check out the furnace. Who knows, maybe the snakes snuffed out the pilot light crawling around."

"That's stretching it a bit much, Cap. Don't you think?" Roy smirked.

"Maybe, but isn't that better than having a whole city block blow up in a gas leak if we don't go look?"

DeSoto sighed in resignation.

Gage immediately got into the spirit of things. "Who's driving?"

"The first one who gets there." replied Hank, rocketting out of the room. "And I want to worse than you!"

Of course Cap won with his lankier legs and longer stride. That's what had made him win their Twister games, too, in the past.

Roy looked at him from the center spot in the squad cab. "Are you sure you remember how to drive one of these things?"

"Learned way back when I was still a boy, Roy." he chuckled. "Hang on."

Stanley flipped on the bullhorn speaker as they sailed out of the vehicle bay onto the boulevard. ##Gang, going on a courtesy call to that last traffic on the radio. We'll be back in two if we get one of our own.## he hollered, filling the open space of the garage with his booming voice that echoed around like buckshot.

Several hands waved from the back yard baseball game going on in acknowledgement as Gage flipped the squad sirens on. Johnny laughed. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss doing this. Man, Roy, this is our own old rescue squad!" he said with a little kid grin on his face.

Roy did a double take at his old partner.  
"Cap, maybe it's a good thing that Johnny ISN'T driving.... Thanks." DeSoto said, eyeing Gage up skeptically.

"Don't count your horses before they're out of the stable. I'm well known these days for having a lead foot." Stanley smirked as he put the pedal to the metal. Roy and Johnny's head smacked against the back of the cab window as they accelerated into the fast lane.

Gage grimaced, hanging on for dear life.  
"You wouldn't happen to have our old helmets stashed away back here anywhere, do you?" asked Johnny meekly.

"Fraid not." Cap said, still grinning as he crouched over the steering wheel he was holding. "You guys are just gonna have to do without for the sixty seconds it'll take getting there."

A minute later, they were there, meeting up with Vince. They had beaten both Battalion Nine and the animal control unit's response.

Cap got on their channel. "Squad 51. L.A., 905 Wild and B.T. 9,  
we're on your scene for a safety check. Reporting back in three."

##Squad 51.## came back the triplicate reply.

As the squad's station number's captain, Cap got the skunk striped helmet after a little tug of war wrestling match with the other two with him. Victoriously, he put it on and started up the lawn of the house.

Immediately, all three were forced professional, except for the idiot grins on their faces.

The joyful grins faded when there wasn't an answer to almost a full minute of their most energetic knocking on the front door.

Cap snapped out his orders. "Roy, check the sides, Johnny, the back.  
Something's definitely not right here and it has nothing to do with a simple animal nuisance call." He slid over on the porch to peer into the windows. Vince joined him.

"Trouble?" asked the cop.

"Feels like it." Hank answered. "If nobody's actually home, who made the call?"

"It stinks.." agreed Howard.

"But it's not gas.." Johnny piped up from his place on the ground.  
He was looking into a deep window well, buried in the thick shadow of a eucalyptus tree. "Look.." he said pointing.

Roy, Cap and Vince actually recoiled when a movement scraping across the well's gravel proved to be a ball of muscle-stiff, cold rattlesnakes.

"Don't tell me, a winter hibernation hole?" Cap shivered.

"Yep." Gage said. "And the window's broken. Probably from some kid poking at em with a stick earlier. They're all really p*ss*d off down there."

Hank pulled Johnny to his feet, away from the hole. "Well, how many do you think actually got into the basement?"

Johnny looked at him unhappily. "Probably all there was this morning."

"That could be dozens. Or more.." Vince gasped.

"Now we know why the house owner called." Roy replied.  
"Come on, let's find another way into the basement. That somebody may be in medical trouble to go along with this huge pest problem if they went down there to find out how bad things really were... and ran into them."

Gage set his mouth into a grim line. "That doesn't leave much time."

"Let's go.." Hank shouted.

Roy grabbed Stanley's arm through his fire jacket. "You calling in reinforcements?"

"Not until we see an actual emergency. I'm not gonna waste moving the grid for nothing." Hank said.

"That's what I would do." Johnny agreed.

"Me, too." said Roy, ironically.

"Spoken like a true captain." said Cap proudly. "Both of ya."  
he quipped. Then he fell to the business at hand, scouting around the house for a well lit and very sun heated way into the basement inside.

Gage soon found a second window well around the corner of the house next to a garden hose, and he nudged the pane below open with a carefully placed toe once he found that no snakes inhabited the pit. "Okay, guys. Lower me down." And he crawled in head first. "Grab my feet!" Then he grunted. "Man, once again I'm the only one skinny enough to fit through something. It's not fair."

"Shut up. You get to save more people than us because of that, don't you?" DeSoto snapped, hating the weight Gage had put onto his narrow bones invisibly.

Cap just laughed.

Vince shot back the perfect retort. "You'll feel real bad if all this effort amounts to something. So have at it and stop all that grousing!"

Gage's heels dutifully disappeared into the window hole, and he landed with a crash on something old that they heard clearly.

"..I'm on the....*mmphhff* couch. It's musty.. Or is that snake I'm smelling?  
Oh, man.. I think I see something moving over there.." came his voice miserably.

In the stark half bright sun lit, half pitch black hidden basement, Johnny's eyes got used to the dimness beyond. His first step produced a chorus of tail rattles. "Ah! Snakes!" he yelled, whipping up his leg again.

"You okay, Johnny?" asked Roy.

Johnny sat back on the fusty spring popped couch, hugging his legs to his chest, breathing hard. "..Y......Y......Yes..! ...For now.. There must be a million of em!"

"See anybody else down there with ya?" Vince asked. He had thought ahead and grabbed a fire extinguisher and rope. "Cap, maybe this'll offer him some protection."

"That it will." said Hank. Together, the three men tied it on snug and passed it down.

"Gage! CO2 cylinder!" Cap shouted.

Its loud clanging broke Johnny out of his cold sweat. "What else have you got?.. They're all over the floor! Every square inch of it." he hollered back fearfully, getting mad at his own weakness of heart.

Above, Hank started to smile. "I've got just the thing. A protege of Chet's old club invented this last week to outdo Brice's club for innovation points.  
Roy? Go look inside the rear compartment, in the stokes."

"What is it?" DeSoto asked.

"A bonafide snake hook."

Vince laughed. "Makes sense being in Southern California."

Soon, Johnny was handed the metal rod, too, along with an H.T.  
"I don't know how to use one of these things!" he complained right back.

"Better learn fast, we still have to do a search for the house owner before we clear." Hank told him. "We'll coach ya.."

"That's what I'm afraid of..." mumbled Johnny, eyeing the surroundings best he could.

"Here!" shouted Roy, dropping something else that bounced through the window. Johnny startled badly and the flashlight landed on the tiles,  
right into the middle of a ball of snakes, who hissed loudly and let out more musk.

Gage froze and began coughing at the stench. "Okay.. okay.. sorry!  
Quit arrowing in on my heat signature. Please..I didn't do it.." he whispered.

Slowly, the snakes crawled away from the unfamiliar metal object which Gage soon hooked up into his lap. Turning it on, Johnny aimed it into some darkness he couldn't yet see through.

His light beam landed on a pair of female legs, lying face down.

"Victim down here. Unconscious! Adult female! Breathing..." he reported.

"Only the one?" Hank shouted back urgently while Vince got on his radio to L.A. for more help.

Another torch sweep confirmed his finding.

"Yeah.." Johnny gasped, trying to get his nerve up to slide clumps of snakes away from the path he wanted to take over to her using the hook. "I can't tell how bad she is.."

"Gage, don't do anything rash. Your life's more important than--"  
Hank started in.

"...anything but that doesn't mean a hoot if that lady dies on me, Cap."  
Johnny finished in annoyance. "I know the risks."

There was a long pause from above. "....okay, pally. Just doing my job."

"Yeah, well, let me do mine. She's not lookin so good."  
Johnny said, in a softer voice over his radio.

Finally, Gage took that first step. And then another, each time, gingerly nudging and sliding serpents away with the hook. Whenever a bunch threatened to migrate towards him, in long scaley threads, he discouraged them with a blast from the extinguisher.

Soon, Johnny's fingers connected with the housewife's neck. He found a strong beat at her carotid. "Good pulse. Maybe a faint only."  
He reached down and hooked her tongue free from where it was blocking the corner of her mouth. Her harsh breathing eased off.

"Good deal." said Hank. "Is she in immediate danger?"

Johnny looked around him and saw the circle of sun had moved away from the wall and over himself and his victim. "Yeah, we both are. We're the only source of heat now."

"Emergency evac!" shouted both Roy and Hank at the same time.

Hank nodded at Roy in agreement. "Use our rope to tie her off.  
What sized airway, Johnny?"

"A six. She'll do with a Berman. But we can't just drag her out of here. We'll both get bitten. They're surrounding us fast. They.  
they're..." he began to stutter as an old fear, that first one, began to seep back into his very soul.

"Easy there. Think, Johnny. You're a captain now. Think outside the bubble. You're better than you were before. Use what resources you've got. You can do it." encouraged Hank.

Slowly, the panic began to fade and so did his useless hyperventilations.

He caught the oral airway when it rolled in and he utilized it, double checking to be sure the woman's breaths continued regularly afterwards.

A hulking bulk nearby glinted in the reflection of sunlight bouncing off his borrowed Captain's helmet plate. It was silver. Gage shouted.

"Garbage can! Cap, A...gar-- I can catch em all...and put them i--"

"Terrific, pal. Yes, you go corral 'em. One by one. Just enough to get yourselves out....okay?" Stanley encouraged. "Great idea. Way to think on your feet."

"I'm not on my feet, Cap. This is bringing me to my knees."

"Not for long, Johnny. I know you. Now get her out so we can treat her with oxygen before the ambulance gets here." Roy told him.  
"Protect her with your jacket. Wrap her up after she's breathing secured. Even if they strike out, they won't get through it."

"Good idea."

"That's what I'm here for. I've always been your second half. Now get going." Roy said.

Gage slowly hook-reached for the first snake nearest the still woman.  
"Ahhhh!" he cringed. Its heavy weight and angry rattle almost made him drop it,... but then, it was over the garbage can.

He shook it free of the rod,.. lightly....

Clang!!

HHHhhhiiiiissSSSSS!! came the angry reply from inside the can.  
The large serpent rapidly tried to reach up to the top but swiftly, Gage chilled the outer top rim with a frozen blast of CO2 from the nozzle and it immediately recoiled away from the frosted aluminum surface.

It settled down, trying to thaw its frozen tongue.

Johnny reached for the second snake.. and canned it. Just like the first.

Johnny's eyes began to unblur and some of the warmth began to return to his hands and feet. Finally, his heart rate began to slow down.

Unbidden, came a whispered challenge of pure bravado from between his lips. "Oh, yeah? So you all wanna sink some fangs into somebody's legs do you? Come on, I dare any of you to try..." he growled, advancing like a seasoned handler in a pit of spitting cobras.

-  
Later, much later, after a long shower at the station, Johnny had his chance to gloat. "See? So I finally got my revenge. And after all these years.." he said, still coming down from his adrenaline rush.

"Did you kill any of em?" Roy asked out of morbid curiosity.

"Didn't have to.." Gage told him. "We had to get her out first, remember? Glad she's gonna be okay."

"Helped that she didn't have any bites on her." Hank agreed.

"Glad we decided to go early. We made a difference.." Johnny said happily.

Hank, infected, grinned right along with him. "Helper's high..."

Beside them, Roy didn't smile. In fact, he seemed lost to the others in something unpleasant, or even... sad. Finally, he looked up and spoke what was on his mind. "Wish we could have made a difference for one other person, Johnny. Just one, for once..." DeSoto said, his eyes glistening in remembrance.

Hank found he couldn't speak and all eyes turned to the bulletin board where an old rusted can still hung, on a nail.

------------------------------------------------------

Photo: A little girl caring for Cap's bloody nose.

Photo: Cap looking grief stricken, in the kitchen.

Photo: Gage lying in bed, wide awake and thoughtful.

Photo: A dank basement.

Photo: An aluminum garbage can in a basement.

Photo: A snake handler with a hook and serpent.

Photo: Gage, looking determined at night in a helmet.

Photo: The gang looking amused, and sad at a memory.

Photo: Chet, eyeing Gage in a heart to heart talk close up.

*  
From: patti keiper Date: Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:52 am Subject: Christened With Love..

Sploooosh! went the water can as it triggered in the mop closet. "Gage! Dang it all! This is my last shirt!" complained Chet. "If I wasn't such a nice guy, I'd make you spend the money to dry ALL of them out for me...!" he growled and danced in half irritation and half admiration around the vehicle bay as he ran the excess water off his curly head, shaking like a dog.

In the kitchen, Gage cupped an ear forward with a few fingers.  
"Ooo, ** Is that hot spot number four going off? Man,  
and he walked into today with both eyes wide open.." Johnny chuckled to Roy, who was clearing the table after breakfast.

"You mean you'd soak a guy on a morning as cold as this?"  
DeSoto smiled.

"Sure. Why not? It builds character. And this is my big revenge day for all the cans I ate." he said, hooking a thumb at his chest empathetically. "It's not that bad outside. The sun's out and it's clear as a bell."

"Thank G*d we don't have to suffer riding the Crown to calls any more." Hank said, carefully keeping expression neutral at the war playing out between his two men.

"Yeah, no open roof to worry about." Marco cracked up.

Roy studied Cap with a look that bordered on incredulity.  
"You're letting them duke this out on purpose aren't you?"  
he asked him.

"Why not? We all saw this day coming, didn't we? Besides,  
a little water never hurt anybody. Maybe things'll settle down now that Gage's has definitely proven himself to be the better bomber.." Stanley winked, animatedly turning to a new page in the newspaper.

Stoker sniggered from where he was doing dishes. "The three year war. Who'd figured that the final battle would play out on a Monday of all days."

Johnny snorted.  
"Of course. Because it's the first day of the work week, his guard was down." Gage explained, still grinning like a banshee.  
"Perfect day to get him by the throat..." he said, pantomiming a neck twisting in his fingers.

"Easy there, pal. You don't want to kill him now, do you?"  
asked Roy.

"Just that practical joke streak in him. I'm tired of always being his easiest target..." Gage said, making a face. "So I'm finally wise-ing up."

"It took this long?" Lopez quipped.

"Very funny." Johnny simped at him. "Chet's got a complex and very devious mind. Took a while to figure him out."

"Okay, I'll give you that one." Marco admitted.

They all moused down as Chet emerged from the bay,  
wrapped in yet another white shower towel in a vain attempt to get the water dark wet staining out of his powder blue uniform shirt before the next call.

Gage couldn't resist. "Isn't your first one dry yet?"

"It's still dewy outside! Thankyouverymuch. And the sun's not hot enough yet and with no wind..." Kelly told him. "But I gotta hand it to ya, I never saw this day coming. My hat's off to ya."

"Glad you liked it." Johnny said magnanimously.  
"Does this mean you'll lay off now on the Phantom pranks?"

Chet fashioned innocent eyes, then started grinning like a fox. "Maybe... Maybe not. This could be the start of World War III."

"Now that ....would be interesting..." commented Hank,  
not looking up from his column.

Both Chet and Johnny rounded on Stanley. "Aww, Cap.  
How can you be the judge of anything? We can't target you in any of this, or we pay for it." Gage moped.

"Yeah! That's right." agreed Kelly, standing side by side with Gage. They were in like poses of ire, with elbows on hips.

"Privilege of rank, boys. Earn a pair of these and you, too,  
can be immune.." Cap said, tugging on his collar trumpets.

The tones went off. Big ones. And Sam began detailing a location and outlined a simple house fire on a lake.

"Ah,.." said Cap. "And those waited until after we were done eating for once. Let's go. Chet, I'll order Stoker to drive real fast with the windows down so you can--"

"Fat lot of good that'll do, I'll have my turnout coat on.."  
Chet whined.

"Well...." said Hank, sweeping an I-offered gesture to the air as they piled out to the trucks. "At least you'll be warm."

"But sticky!"

Gage started laughing as he put on his helmet in the squad.  
"Ah, revenge is so sweet, and best served......cold." he remarked to Roy once the doors were solidly closed.

"You're evil."

"No, just...calculated.."

"I'll give you that." DeSoto said as he took off onto the boulevard with his lights and sirens on. "Chet'll probably be thanking ya for the cool down once he's in the middle of all that hot fire."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was two hours later, and the fire was quenched in short order with two other stations. The lake home was a total loss, including one brand new vehicle that had been in the ground level open shed. On the brighter side, Station 51 had determined very early on that no one had been inside.

Captain Stanley felt confident enough to turn loose the other supporting stations, leaving the routine cleanup detail work that was still left to do, for his own men. "L.A., Engine 51.  
This fire's out. Return all other units. Station 51 out one hour."

##Station 51, L.A.. Stations 8, 24.. Return.## replied L.A.

Already, the police had taped off the area to keep out prying eyes and curious kids, attracted by the fading odor of char and ruin.

Roy DeSoto hooked yet another roofing shingle over with his tool,  
where it lay on the ground, so Johnny could hit it with a solid hose drowning to snuff out the rest of its remaining embers. "So,  
what do you think started the fire?" he asked Gage, still feeling sooty and sweaty to the core.

"I don't know. Can't tell. It certainly wasn't the furnace. I mean we can see that..." he said, pointing an ashy glove to the blackened brand new unit sitting exposed through the black bones of the house frame. He finally scratched his dirt streaked nose. "The cat maybe?"

Roy just smirked. "Anything goes. Guess this one's gonna have to wait until the county investigators figure it out."

Johnny grimaced, then pulled off his scba bottle that they no longer needed. "Man, this thing gets heavy after a while."

"No, sh*t." said Marco as he passed them by with another hook and shovel, being followed by Stoker who was backing him up with a charged hose. "Whydidja wait so long? I had mine off a half hour ago."

"Quit being such a funny man. I was concentrating a little and lost track of time. Geez.." Gage groused after their backs.

Roy just chuckled, knowing that everybody was blowing off some steam after the high tension of search and knock down.

The peaceful, bright blue morning soon was punctuated with casual fire calls through their truck radios and the H.T.s they were wearing on their jackets.

All was calm. Then their H.T.s crackled on private band.

##Say, Johnny. I wanted to thank ya for my multiple baths this morning. I think I was finally clean behind the ears for the first time in my life. Too bad they're grubby again. Maybe we can go take a dip in the lake to wash off or something next break..## said Chet.

Everybody dispersed inside and outside the house laughed out loud.

Hank joined in the handy talkie banter good naturedly. ##You sure you want to do that? We don't know if that lake's fresh or brine yet.##

Gage added more, keying up a toggle. ##Yeah, you might get white stains from salt to go along with the black ones you already got.##

##Hey, because of you, I've got a serious penchant for water#  
Kelly shot back from where he was in the basement, with Hank.

##For wearing it or for spraying it out through a hose?## Johnny rejoined in high amusement from the yard.

##Neither.. I like aiming it at a major annoyance who happens to have the initials J.G.## Chet retorted, after leaving his axe buried in the heart of a still warm wall.

##Oh? J.G., huh? Hey Roy, doesn't that mean junior grade as in something that's inferior?## Gage replied back, leaning on a palm tree as he took a slug of ice water from their relief canteen.

In the still enclosed burned out basement, Stanley tapped Chet on the shoulder. "Take a break, pal. I'll spray this last into the wall.  
Don't go far." he said, aiming a hose nozzle into the hole Chet had made.

"I won't. Tell you what? I'll be sitting over on that stairwell just over there, floor middle. That's sunshine coming in from up top and I wanna see some serious daylight again after all this smoke."

"Sounds good, pal." Hank replied. "Keep keying up so I know where you are."

Chet gave him a thumbs up.

Gage's voice filtered in slyly and echoed through the basement.  
##Oh, Chet.. guess what I got..##

Kelly immediately felt all of his pockets and immediately grumbled when his gloves fell on the spot where his jacket haligan used to be.  
He mouthed epithets silently and rolled his eyes. Out loud, he commented to Cap. "He's got light fingers, too? Cap, I swear I had it on me last trip out to the engine."

Hank starting laughing and held up both his gloves in an I'm-staying-out-of-it gesture after he had rolled up the last of their hose.

Kelly sighed and toggled back. ##I might need that coming up.##

##For what? All the windows are already popped.## Johnny countered neatly over the radio.

##You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?##

##Yep. Aren't you? We're top of the line firefighters. And we knocked this bad boy down fast, didn't we?## Gage evaded, with double meaning.  
## I've got reason to celebrate. You should, too.##

Stanley nodded as he climbed back up the stairs and past Chet.  
"I'll be right back. Gonna put this roll away. Keep your helmet on, pal. The carpeting above the ceiling still dripping. I wouldn't want you to get wet." he quipped.

"Oh, knock it off, Cap. Not you, too." replied Chet. "Say, want my bottle as long as you're going?"

"Yeah, gimme." said Hank, taking his yellow air tank along with his by the straps. He left the basement just as Chet got into it again with a little vehemence. He heard Kelly's scathing reply over his radio.

##Not this way. And don't hide it where I can't figure out where it is!##

##Come on, Chet. A fire engine isn't really all that big. Should only take ya, fifteen minutes or so once we get back to the station to shake it out to get your tool back.## Johnny taunted good naturedly. ##So what do ya say? Are you gonna come out and say it finally? It's easy. Come on,  
say it now. Johnny Gage is the better man.##

Up on the lawn, amid birdsong, Johnny waited for a reply back.  
He frowned when suddenly only static returned to him. "Chet? How's your battery power? I didn't quite hear that. Say again?"

Nothing returned. Chuckling, he turned to Roy. "He's giving me the silent treatment already. Come on, let's make amends by getting them some of these drinking water bottles."

DeSoto nodded and set down his hose. He jogged after his partner with six of them hooked over his shoulder.

They met Cap coming back from the engine. "What's the score,  
Johnny? Sounded pretty even to me on the comebacks." Stanley grinned.

Gage shook his head with a shrug. "Cap, where is he? I think his radio died on him and he doesn't know it yet."

Hank looked at his watch. "Yeah, it's been that long. I know where he is, boys. On the stairs in the basement, right at the top. I just left him."

Right then, their radios signaled a triple distress--automated only.  
And the signature was Kelly's.

"Chet?!" Gage shouted, keying up his radio. Alarmed, the three began running for the house just as the first floor caved in noisily.  
"Oh, man. No! No!" Johnny yelled, running faster.

Hank ran for the engine cab and called for emergency help. "Engine 51, L.A.. We've suffered a structural collapse. One man unaccounted for. Personal beacon has been activated."

##10-4, Engine 51..## And L.A. summoned an urban rescue unit over another channel. The dispatcher returned. ##L.A., Engine 51.  
USAR 1 reports an E.T.A of twenty five minutes. All other units tied up.##

"What?!" Hank said, throwing down the unkeyed mic in disgust he ran after his men with a K-12 kit, portapower case and crowbars.

As he disappeared into the burned out hulk of the house, the birds around him continued singing gayly, undisturbed.

-----------------------------------------

Photo: Johnny getting wet from a water can.

Photo: Chet leaning through the kitchen door, soaked.

Photo: Cap and Chet firefighting with a hose.

Photo: A burned out lake house on a clear blue morning day.

Photo: Charred ribs of a burned out house, closeup.

Photo: Sunlight on the stairs of a burned basement.

Photo: Cap running out of the engine cab, radioing for help.

*  
From: patti keiper Date: Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:49 pm Subject: AutoPilot..

Hank got to the edge of the ash lined beach in the back yard and shouted at his men. He spotted all four of them, running for the house. "Don't.. move.. a.. muscle! We're checking this out first!"

Gage sputtered, beginning to panic. "Cap, if it's bad, he's got only four min--"

"Don't you think I know that? We have to be safe first before we can even BEGIN to think about going in there. Get into fresh SCBA.  
Grab enough for all of us. We're gonna analyze position, obstacles and guess the total time we might need to enter and work inside the house, and then we're coming right back out here to plan all this out.  
Marco, keep hailing for him. On his emergency band."

Roy was fighting his instincts. "No, wait. Cap, he's not responding. And it's gonna be forever before help arrives. We have to at least take a fast look.."

Hank ignored him. "Get into this gear, now. You, and Marco. Full body harness with retrieval lines attached inside hose rollers to prevent abrasion. Wristlets for Chet for a fast out if he not buried and if the space he's in is big enough and vertical. Set up the hand-cranked mechanical winch and tripod."

"But.."

"Just go! Stoker, bring a ladder, and our explosion-proof lighting. Gage, grab a scoop stretcher and the medical gear. Oxygen resuscitator first. I'll get the electronic gas detectors and color-indicator gas detector tubes so we can determine our oxygen content, lower explosive limit, and check for toxic atmospheres." As he spoke, he kept grabbing at his mens'  
jackets, to keep them from running inside and to keep them focused despite their shock. "And get out two escape cylinders. Move!"

All four men fled under his orders.

It tore Hank's heart to hear Lopez continuing to beg Kelly into answering them over the personal band.

Gritting his teeth and fighting tears, Hank lifted his walkie talkie and switched to L.A.'s frequency. "Engine 51,L.A. Confirmed one missing. No obvious hazardous mat's yet. Utilities were shut off during our knockdown. Time since collapse...." he looked at his watch. "Two minutes, seven seconds... Mark."

##Time stamping.##

Cap went on, relaying his critical information. "This is the Bradley housing development. Contact a Scott Myers. We'll need to obtain architechural drawings of this address. We need an aerial perspective of the scene. Our side access is limited. Notify USAR 1, there is no rebar or massively sized concrete debris present. Victim was last noted to be away from all exterior walls. We will need overhead lift capability.  
Several large unburned rafters are lying on the dig site. Send a stand by fire/rescue team a.s.a.p. and P.D. with barricades for crowd control and a traffic block. "

##L.A., Engine 51. Affirm additional resources. Battalion Seven reports an E.T.A. of six minutes to assume incident command. L.A. to Copter Two.  
Report to three miles east of Topanga Freeway, on the north shore of Shane's Lake to 51's entrapment beneath a cold fire site.##

##10-4, L.A. There in one.## said the helicopter pilot.

Hank ran to carry out his physical part of the sudden rescue operation. It was almost instantly, when they were all back and laden with equipment which they set up upwind of the charred house fire footprint.

"All right, everybody's mask on tight? Okay, inside. We're testing the oxygen in all areas first. Then look for combustible gases and vapors. Explosion risk may be on the rise from all that organic material rotting in the lake so near the basement foundation. There might be carbon monoxide left over from the fire or hydrogen sulfide or methane from the beach coming through the sand. These might cause olfactory fatigue at high levels. Any one of these gases will displace Chet's oxygen, they're heavy. Let's do air sampling in four foot increments vertically and horizontally, including corners and lowspots, to ensure that all potential hazards are identified. Allow solid time to accommodate our sampling speed range and the detector's response. Do NOT enter a hole if you find flammable or explosive gas, vapor, or mist in a concentration greater than 10 percent of its lower flammable limit or lower explosive limit. Enter only if dust is less that five feet visual density or if there's proven oxygen deficiency below 19.5%. With that last figure, we'll know Chet's suffocating. If he does need breathing help on the demand valve, watch it! Oxygen enrichment at 23.5 percent oxygen or above in a small space is deadly. Static electricity from your clothing or even your hair will re-ignite even a dead fire. Prevent this by first ventilating his confined space with normal, ambient air using our outside air hose."

The firemen trembled in stress, crouching over the detectors as they worked step by step. Stoker's intense frown broke. "LEL and LFL's are below tolerance. Some..uh,..CO and minor sulfides. PELs are normal. Oxygen's at... 20.1%. Air's dust free in most places."

"So far." Lopez nodded, beginning to sweat inside his mask. "Chet, come on, answer us, pal. If we're near you, let us know.." he pleaded over his radio. "Make a noise. Or anything, please."

Silence reigned.  
Stanley lightly stood on the edge of the pile mounded up inside where the burned out house once stood. After ensuring rescuer safety and minimal movement of the debris, Cap swallowed the grit still in his throat, and sent two of his men to the top of the pile to systematically search the surface in specific grids. "DeSoto, Marco. You go up first. Keep in constant communications by radio with the surface. You are not to travel a greater distance down any hole farther than allowed by your ten minute air supply or any more than ten feet from the escape cylinders." he said, sending them in. "Use barricade tape and markers to visually mark the areas that have been searched around that stairwell site. Don't lose hope yet, gang. As many as one half of all collapse survivors have been rescued near the surface of the debris and early in the effort in my experience." he shared over H.T. "Your bags have three light sources each in them. Use them often."

Gage added his own two cents worth. "Make sure additional collapse doesn't occur anywhere near him, guys. Use your hands and small tools to remove debris, while you're up there, until you know ..exactly.. where he is."  
he fidgetted inside of his air mask. "Roy, I'll have the M.A.S.T. trousers ready for any "crushing" injuries so he won't suffer a complete hemodynamic collapse once you start getting him free. Ringer's'll be in seconds later."

"Okay.." came Roy's voice as he disappeared inside, trailing his sheath covered rope.

Stoker and Cap manned their lines. "Mike, when they've found the spot, see about additional ventilation options. Static free PPE fans, whatever we've got. I don't want anybody overheating in there." Hank ordered,  
shouting through his faceplate.

Just then, radio traffic erupted from Hank's radio. ##Engine 51, This is Copter Two. We're over your area.##

Cap didn't look away from his youngest paramedic. He replied back to the chopper pilot. "Two firemen inside. Keep a lookout for new cave-ins." he instructed. "Or movement from the victim.  
He's a Code I."

##Roger, will do, 51.## came the fast reply.

Johnny and Cap watched the dot in the sky begin to circle overhead with its familiar silhouette and transponder hum over their channel.

Stanley gently set a glove on Gage's shoulder, who jumped.  
Hank apologized, doubly. "Sorry. Sorry I didn't send you in there right away."

"That's okay, I'm good at maneuvering a resuscitator around tight corners. Once we have 'em.." Johnny tried to joke as he drew his eyes once more to the quiet hulk of the fallen, still smouldering house.

Hank tried to grin, outwardly acting reassured, but inside, he felt numb.  
"I couldn't rush this." Cap explained, keeping a feel on his rope attached to Marco.

"I know. Our safety came first. Like it always does." Johnny said bitterly.

Stanley offered shallow comfort. "We're doing all we can."  
"Let's just hope it's enough, Cap. I don't even want to THINK about how things might go." he hissed, not looking at his captain for the first time in living memory.

Hank became speechless, lost in misery, too.

Then Gage said something else. "Cap, can you ask the B.C. to set aside a special place for our families and any psychological care we might need that's near to but off of the rescue site? To do otherwise will probably... just invite charges of insensitivity later. I... don't want ANYBODY else we know... trying to attempt to enter or stay in the immediate rescue area. Just in case Chet proves to be-.." he broke off, his face twisting.

"Yeah, pal. I'll do that first thing. And Relief'll be here too, with food and tents."

Another roar of helicopter rotors less familiar than the fire department's suddenly grew louder. Both firefighters looked up to see the bright obnoxious blue and white coloring of Channel 8's television bird. Johnny mock spat onto the charred ground. "Oh, no. D*mn it. Not the press, too!" he choked. "Cap, we gotta send them away.. Now's not a good t--"

Hank shushed him with a grip on the shoulder. He was firm but urgent.  
"Go be our Public Information Officer. That way, they can't scrutinize or question our every move. Be as forthcoming as possible, without compromising the integrity of this operation, Chet, or the rest of the department. I'll let you know the second we find Kelly."

"I'll go call Rampart now and then wait for that civvie pilot and those two reporters to land." said Gage, pulling off his mask.

Hank watched him walk away from the debris site, fully carrying the weight of the world on his two small shoulders.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Falling debris inside a house.

Photo: Chet, falling in closeup.

Photo: Trickle of debris falling in a dark, charred place.

Photo: Gage looking stressed in a gray soot field.

Photo: Stoker running with an axe and an airbottle.

Photo: Cap talking to an anxious Gage, crouching on a shock sheet.

Photo: Roy, searching in a dim place, close up.

Photo: A fire department helicopter over Carson.

*  
From: patti keiper Date: Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:27 pm Subject: In the spirit of Free Spirits.. Cap continued to talk to Roy and Lopez as they checked each crevice, nook and cranny near the place the stairwell had been. That location was at the very center of the uneven pile of blackened wood and melted insulation. And everywhere, footing was treacherously slippery from fire hose slag and an ashy fire created mud. Sizzling drips abounded from depths of the charcoiled ruins as steam and water vapor condensed and found its way down towards gravity.

Even past their helmets, the slime got in.

Hank, too, was soon wet to the skin through his trousers from where he stood as the lookout officer, watching them.  
"Our continued safety, once we're at his buried location, is going to be maintained solely by continuous forced-air ventilation. We may have to do some hot work to get rid of some of these water pipes. Stoker, keep monitoring conditions. I want to bring the current 8% LEL concentration of our mix down at the base of the pile here to 50% of the PEL."

"Cap, that's a lot of pumping to do." Mike said softly.

"We'll let's get started." Hank told him quietly. "If this wind keeps up, we'll be able to take our masks off soon." he said,  
eyeing up the street visible through the black bones of the house's combusted frame. "Roy! Marco! Still watch your radios. Spark risk remains! Use only when you're away from any holes!"

"Right, Cap." DeSoto shouted back, giving him a thumbs up hand signal.

Approaching sirens gave all the gang a burst of urgent tears when that station's arrival signaled the twelve minute mark with still no positive sign of Chet's whereabouts.

##Station 51, this is Ladder Nine. We can begin a fog over your location at your discretion.##

Hank got on his radio. "Ladder Nine. Set up on the north side, upwind. We have no obvious water combustibles. Tolerances are within working parameters. This fire was contained without foam or chemicals two hours, ten ago."

##Heard from your victim?## asked the grizzled captain incoming.

Stanley hesitated, not wanting to answer truthfully, but he made his lips move for the job's sake. "Not yet."

##Location?##

"Single level sub-basement, central stairwell... exact middle.  
uh.... U- Under the first floor of plywood and a few rafters."

##Inundation risk?##

"None. The drain tiling for this house is still very good. Our water from earlier's not pooling at all, even at floor level."

##I copy that traffic, 51. Sending in two backup team pairs to help with your search and rescue. L.A. reports USAR 1's ETA, as fifteen out.##

"Nine, copy. Embers are at depth only, on wood. We had the walls completely gutted out and flooded. No open fire remains near us.  
Roof collapse is not a threat." Cap said ironically angry, peering up at the square of mockingly blue sky above them.

##I'll be right in... B.C. Seven's here. I'll update him for you, Hank.  
Concentrate on your lost man now. I got your back#

Johnny Gage's fingers fumbled at the catch snaps of the biophone where he crouched on an already spread out yellow shock sheet.  
He was shaking so hard, he couldn't plug in the aerial antennae.

"Here." said Paramedic Craig Brice gently, doing it for him.

Startled, Johnny looked up for a long, shocked moment, and then against his will, he began to weep. "It's Chet. He might be gone by now, Craig. The whole floor came down on him." he whispered, almost coming to pieces. "There hasn't been a single..*sniff*...word from him."

Brice smiled softly as he got 51's defib, stokes and ekg ready.  
"There are always possibilities. He had time to activate the H.T.  
distress beacon, didn't he? We all heard it. That means that he might still be in an air pocket where he's free from the waist up."

"You could be right. He must have been conscious for at least that long." Grunting in emotional pain, Johnny drew in a cleansing breath.  
and picked up the receiver. He kept turmoil, out of his voice.  
"Rampart, this is Rescue 5-1. Do you read me? R--" he covered his mouth, fighting his stress, then Gage began again.  
"Rampart, ....this is S-Squad 51. Do you read our transmission?"

Nurse Dixie McCall answered. ##10-4, 51. We read you loud and clear.##

Gage gripped the red case tightly and with his eyes closed, he reported in. "Rampart, we've a Code I, currently inaccessible following a structural collapse. Uh, potential for a full resuscitation.  
He's been buried under post fire debris for..." he grimaced as he looked at his watch. "...fourteen minutes, notifying you for potential trauma and surgical teams. No Burn Unit."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the communications alcove, McCall rapped long fingernails on the window glass to attract Dr. Morton's attention at the desk. She saw that he was on the phone when he turned around at the noise, and in mock horror of the boring phone conversation he was in, he spun can-it-wait? fingers at her.

She nodded yes.

Morton sighed and turned his back to spare Dixie his chatter as he loudly outlined the argument that he was having with the lab people downstairs.

McCall grinned. Lab mistakes were very few when Dr. Morton was on shift.

It was then Dixie got an odd feeling from the way Johnny had worded his patient information. She frowned and toggled the replyback. "51, for faster medical records access, do you know the identity of the victim?" Flipping on another reel to reel, she added, "I've switched over to a secured channel and recording mode."

##Dixie, he's from my shift. It's Chester B. Kelly.## Gage reported, answering the way Chet's name appeared on his medical chart. ##Age 31. Best case scenario, is long term entrapment.##

Dixie gasped, and almost dropped the chart she had started at the beginning of the call. She whirled and immediately began pounding on the glass for Mike with her fist, urgently and scared.

Morton caught the hint, hung up the phone, and came.  
"What's the problem?" he said, entering the room. "A life or death situation?"

McCall's eyes filled. "Mike, I need your advice. I know very personal information about a trapped firefighter with 51's, who might not make it in time to see his..." finally Dixie came out and said it as generally as she could. "..his immediate--"

"Who is this again?" Morton asked, looking down at the clipboard. "Mr. Chet Kelly? Isn't that the young fireman who was on that great crash diet kick last year? Wow, ..I didn't know he had kin living in California."  
Dixie held very still as she leaned on the counter. Then she reached down and toggled the intercom to Johnny. "10-4, 51.  
Please stand by for more information."

##Standing by..##

That got Morton's attention. "Dix, what is it that you aren't telling me?"

"Come with me. I've got to think this out..." McCall fled the room,  
bruskly signalling another nurse to watch the paramedic alcove for her. Swiftly, she went across the hall to Kel Brackett's office.

She knocked, but it was empty. Together, resident and nurse went inside,  
with Morton trailing, completely puzzled after her, the whole time.

Once the door closed, Dixie froze by Kel's desk, uncertain.

Mike wasted no bones.  
"Now are you going to explain to me exactly what it is about this patient's personal information that has you worked up so bad?"

"Should I?" asked Dixie again. "Am I authorized to?"

Mike didn't even blink at that strategy. "If it's a matter of life and death,  
of course!" Morton exasperated, throwing up his hands in frustration.

Turned loose, Dixie told all. "Chet's not living alone in that apartment of his."

"Okay, so he's got a girlfriend. I don't have a problem with that. Go call her and send her out to them by police c---"

"It's...more complicated than that, Mike." Dixie said, tears welling up. "They've really loved each other, from moment one."

"Okay, who's she?" Morton asked, folding his arms together.

"Remember Ginger? That fifty eight year old belly dancer from the club who ended up being hypoglycemic for taking diet pills?"

"Her?"

"No, 'she' is Ginger's best friend, Red. Mike, Chet calls her Big Red every chance he gets." Dixie stood there, and blinked. Then she sighed, hugely.

Mike just stood there, with total incomprehension spreading on his face.

"Oh, Mike. Don't be so dense like other men are. Whenever he says that,  
Chet doesn't mean the chewing gum." Dixie fretted.

Morton, to his credit, never got offended. "Okay, so did they elope? That could be a problem if the fire department ever found out. They frown on employees who lie about how many are claimed on W-2 tax forms."

Dixie gave a joyless laugh and put sad, folded fingers to her agonized mouth. "C-Can you keep a secret?"

Mike simply threw up his hands in an I'm-a-doctor,-duh gesture.

"Okay, okay, okay. This is fact." McCall said, pushing him into a chair as she stood over him and glared. "No one's ever gone over to Chet's place since the day they met. That much I KNOW." she insisted.

"Ah, so.. they ARE married. Still, not a problem in my book." Morton just nodded, encouraging her to continue. "That'll be for the fire chiefs and the IRS to mull over later."

Dixied eyed him up, thinking hard, like a woman. "Geez, Mike. They're both deeply loving hippy types. True, free spirits. They went to Woodstock, bought the T-shirt... And he's attended every one of her belly dance performances ever since that first promise of his..." she led on. "They're still together, even after six years. They say they're absolutely devoted to each other and they both tell me it's because it's always been... love at first sight."

Mike blinked a couple of times. "Wait a minute, is this leading up to where I think it's leading?"

Dixie didn't move.

Morton tried again, finally understanding. "There's truly no ring?"

Dixie nodded miserably, tears running afresh. ""No, and it's a stigma if anyone found out. Take a look, Mike. I got this just last week as a birthday present. It was supposed to be our secret... Nurse.." she gave a long, panged sigh of sympathy. ".. to a certain pair of visiting E.R. patients..."

Then she drew out a wallet and showed him a single, very recent photograph.

"Oh, no... Confidentiality be d*mn*d." Mike sighed sadly, looking down. "You have my permission to do whatever it takes to get Chet's girlfriend out onto that scene."

"Immediately, Dr. Morton.." McCall sobbed.

They left the room in a hurry.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Cap getting orders from Battalion along with Roy and Johnny.

Photo: Chet down, in a smoky house, in scba and helmet.

Photo: Dixie looking troubled, in Kel's office.

Photo: Big Red the belly dancer, smiling.

Photo: Big Red, the dancer flirting with Chet, by Marco Lopez.

Photo: Firefighters working a building collapse, framed by a setting sun's rays.

*  
From: Patti or Jeff or Cassidy Date: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:51 pm Subject: Forever In Their Soul..

(This post is a collaboration of Erin J., fan writer Linda T. and Patti K.)

It was an hour later, and Cap, panting hard from his exertions,  
lifted an arm as he clicked on his radio. ##Okay, everybody.  
Shut down for one minute! All hands, quiet all your equipment.  
This is gonna be listening check one!## he announced, his voice cracking with emotion and fatigue. The sun was already low enough in the sky that the rubble pile had taken on a somber black and white cast with shades of limpid gray overtones. Only the colored parts of the work paused firecrew's eyes showed any color at all. The scene matched Hank's black mood. Inside,  
he felt lost and very, very small. ::This isn't happening. Is this working?  
Are we making any headway? Is Chet still okay? G*d, I hate this not knowing..:: his thoughts pressed against the ache behind his eyes as he concentrated on the small sounds echoing around the wide skeleton of the house. :: Small help it's been that the air's still good in here. Wearing air masks would've helped cut down some of this dust we're eating. :: he fretted.

Time after time, in that minute, Cap thought he heard scraping, or tiny moans, only to be disappointed when that movement or origin turned out to be from somebody whole and standing.

Near him, a worker whispered. "...we need a dog..."

His buddy whispered back. "...there weren't any available. Most are out of state on demos training...." he muttered back, morose.

Cap's eyes stung. :: Oh, how I wish Boot were still here. He would have been able to find Chet in a--::

"Over here!" came DeSoto's excited cry. "I think I see something!"

Marco joined the outcry. "It's cloth. For sure. And a shoe? Chet?  
Chet?! Can you hear us?" Lopez yelled, digging carefully, but very fast at the new hole they had discovered.

Hank snapped out another order as a flood of firefighters began quickly picking their way over to that location. "Easy, easy. Don't cause an avalanche into that crack. One at a time. Yes, nice and easy. Yes, bring over that set of crow bars.. Stoker, do we need air bottles down there? What does the detector say?"

"It's clear." Mike sobbed, in relief. "Normal ambient."

"Let's get to work!" Hank urged.

Gage had heard the news, and had come running with the resuscitator and the biophone. "Cap?! How far down is he?"

DeSoto looked up from the hole he had been peering through.  
"I think about nine feet. Can't....quite....reach him with the probe.  
Too small for anybody to get into. We're gonna have to cut him out."

"Has he moved at all?"

"Not yet. And there's only a little blood here, from his right arm."  
Roy reported.

"What's his color?" Stanley finally asked, wanting confirmation on signs of life.

"Can't tell. This dust's coating him like all the rest of us." DeSoto coughed.

Lopez staggered when a large section he was leaning on suddenly shifted.

"Look out!! Everybody freeze!" Stanley hollered. "Don't move an inch!"

The tipped over wall started sliding anyway.. "Grab it! Stop it!" came cries from firemen all over as a car sized slab started creeping towards Chet's hole. "It's gonna cover him back up!" came frightened cries.

Gloves from a dozen firefighters and a solid grapple hook and chain attached to Ladder Nine's bucket, extended overhead, finally arrested its movement.

"Tie it off! Quickly..!" came Battalion Seven's order. "Don't bother breaking it up. Just stabilize it so the rest of this pile doesn't move."

Eagerly, two engine crews and the engineers from USAR 1, got to work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gage got on the biophone, rehailing Rampart.. His voice was excited,  
hopeful. "Rampart, this is Rescue 51. What's your patient data?  
We've established visual contact..."

Dr. Early got on the phone. ##Squad 51, go ahead.##

Johnny's face fell. "Rampart, Miss McCall told us to standby for more info. Happen to know what it was?"

Joe's expression crumpled in curiosity. He knew if Dixie had tried to relay earlier, and hadn't gone through to the paramedics, the news she shared probably wasn't going to be good news on either end. #Negative, 51. But I will let you know as soon I find out. Chances are, she's finding another way to bring it to you#  
Johnny looked up from inside the house instinctively when he saw Brice get up as he noticed a group of new arrivals emerging from a police squad car through the landmark spray painted, fire pockmarked west wall. ::Four people from the hospital?:: he thought. One, Gage noticed, didn't get out.  
::Looks like Vince is keeping a close eye there. I wonder why?::

Craig left the curbside and went out to intercept them. Gage felt a shock of recognition when the two females seemed very familiar to him. One woman, was Dixie, in a field uniform. The other, had thick tresses of long flowing auburn hair down to her waist. Dr. Morton, was guiding her over to the command area, near the treatment gear ready squads. Dixie McCall had her other hand,.. and her ear, speaking to her quietly, as they walked.

::Oh, no. Is that who I think it is?:: Johnny wondered, as a distant memory of belly dancers came to mind.

But then the sound of a biting K-12 blocked out all thought of the new visitors.

Stoker slicked back his visor. "I'm through. Johnny, this might be big enough for you an--"

"Let me through..." Gage said, setting down the biophone case and resuscitator near Cap's feet. Gage upended head first in his safety helmet, harness and rope and he slowly slithered into the hole Roy had pointed to.

There was a long pause and muffled scraping..

Then... "...I can't get through.. There's been another cave in.  
Pull back me up.."

The other firefighters muttered in frustration and hastened to aid him. Soon, Johnny was back in front of Cap. "We gotta dig again. By hand."

"Is he breathing?" Hank asked him. "Local condensation should have told you that."

Johnny looked down setting his muddy gloves onto his hips. "I couldn't tell. There's dampness from left over hose water still dripping down all around him."

Stanley quickly ran grubby fingers through his hair and as quickly he replaced back, his dusty captain's helmet. "All right everybody, you know what's left. And shore up as you go. I want an escape cylinder down on each side of him as you dig.." he ordered.

Next to him, Battalion Seven agreed with a silent nod.

The first chill of the coming night came drifting through the work area and raised goosebumps on Hank's arms. Already, he could see forgotten embers glowing orange in the violated wood surrounding them. They were no longer a threat, ...but neither were they warm.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Craig Brice got out a blanket for Red to wrap around herself. "Please, sit down, miss. I know this is hard to comprehend right now.  
But I'm afraid, it's all true."

"No, Chet.. No!.." she sobbed, still beside herself. "He can't be trapped in there.. He's always... *choke* so careful...Especially at work.." she cried, nearly hysterical, and struggling.

Dixie gripped her around the shoulders tightly. "Red, Red.. Calm down. Now what would he think? Do you really want Chet to see and hear you like this?"

Nearby, Dr. Morton nodded silently to Craig to take action.

Brice began to speak. "Red,..Now you're working yourself up. That's not a good thing for your daughter, now is it?"

Red just sobbed, holding her stomach, from nausea.

Craig went on. "I'm going to give you a local. Okay? It's just a light sedative. It won't hurt you at all... Can you hold this arm still for a moment? That's right, Dixie, hold her head." he said, holding an IM hypo aloft. Brice began swabbing down the skin on Red's shoulder.

A few seconds after the injection, McCall started singing softly to her.  
A song with a single name in it, over and over again, like a lullaby, holding Chet's true love tightly in a desperate embrace. "Shh... I'm here. We're all.. here.." and McCall's tiny hand sank lower, to hold Red's own in a soft grip, over her stomach. "And so's she..."

"My daughter.. She.." Red startled and looked up, suddenly forgetting why she was out in the middle of a street surrounded by fire trucks. "Where's her dad?  
Where's Chester?" she shouted, confused. But then the medication's sudden effects eased a bit, and she remembered why when she looked at the shadowed hulk of the house.

Quietly, her crying softened and lessened, but it was no less acute.

Dixie looked up at Brice. "I'll stay with her.." she said. But nonverbally, she cast her eyes scenewards to the work site. ::Go get an update.:: they said firmly.

Nodding, Craig put on his helmet and jogged back to the others. Dr. Morton began to take a blood pressure on Red. "Shhh, it's over. The diazepam isn't gonna make you feel dizzy any more. Just relax against Dixie while I see how you're doing. That paramedic's gone for news, okay? Just try to rest a bit. Now isn't that song Nurse McCall's singing nice? What tune is it, Dix? I've never heard it before."

"It's something Chet wrote..... on his guitar." Red sobbed, burying her head into Dixie's warm shoulder.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marco and Roy broke through, falling against the exposed concrete sewer cylinder Chet was lying against, face down.

Wiping oily grime off his dripping face, Roy reached for Kelly's soot and plaster powdered neck with a couple of bare fingers.  
"Chet? Can you hear me? It's Roy.." he said near his ear.

Marco's face looked pinched. Already, he knew Chet wasn't breathing, and hadn't been for quite some time. He didn't have to ask whether or not Roy had found a pulse. The answer was no.

DeSoto let go, disbelieving, and moved to Chet's head, drawing out a penlight in the quiet dimness. He passed the beams over Kelly's eyes under lids that seemed stiff and didn't want to open. Then he straightened up. "Dilated." Then he looked up at Marco.  
"Go ahead and check for it." he told him gruffily. "I think we both.  
...know."

Lopez quickly drew up Chet's turnout sleeve away from the broken arm they had noticed earlier and saw the clear sign. His eyes immediately filled. More frantic, Marco cut away Chet's jacket and shirt, using Roy's bandage scissors, right up his side, and there, he found it, too, hugging the ground. "It's lividity." he said, barely audible, fingering the dark blue purple splotches on the chalky skin.

Roy started crying silently then, barely able to pull out his stethoscope for one last confirmation as he leaned over Chet's back, drawing him closer to his knees, where they both crouched inside of the small space.

"Well?!" came Cap's booming voice, echoing down to them eagerly.

DeSoto couldn't speak.

So Lopez did it for him. "He's-- O Donya Maria!, He's muerte.  
We're too late, Cap!" he screamed in shock, horror. "Oh, G*d!"

Roy, next to him, didn't move. Then he, too, whispered, into his H.T. "..far too late.." he said as he pulled the silver and black drum away from Kelly's silent chest. Overcome with grief, he pulled off his turnout coat and covered up Kelly's face and chill curled limbs gently.

-  
Vince Howard waited for Stanley to meet him outside the debris field. A few seconds later, the news the officer shared, had shaken Hank anew.

Captain Stanley took one look at Howard's squad car, blanched at something he saw inside of it, and then he snapped out an order. "Guys, we're not leaving this scene in the usual way." he said as Marco, Roy and Stoker silently gathered up Chet's body from where it sprawled awkwardly in the place where he had died. "This has become more than a just retrieval. I- I want a family out there to know,  
that absolutely everything possible today, has been done.." he said, pointing out to the treatment area, where Dixie and Red sat holding each other's icy hands. His eyes flowed unabashed. "I want them to know that one small comfort. It's the one thing, we CAN do."

DeSoto was still numb. "Cap, I don't understand.."

Hank helped him to his feet. "Roy. Go uncover him.  
Take your jacket back. No way are we going to rack up a huge useless ambulance transportation bill, for a newly grieving family."

"Family? Cap? They had time to get here?" asked Lopez, stunned.

"These folks are different. I'll explain later." Hank whispered. "Let's get moving."

Gage set his mouth into a firm unreadable line. "I'll get the supplies going."

Roy suddenly understood what Stanley was planning, and approved.  
"I'll start on him. Johnny, is the O2 apparatus nearby?"

"Yeah. I'll be with ya in a sec. Gonna get the EKG monitor from Brice."

Mike's eyes lit up in sharp, sad understanding. "Give me two minutes and I'll be ready to roll out."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Station 51 started Chet Kelly's code immediately. Keeping up CPR in a full resuscitative effort, they loaded Chet up into the stokes,  
continuing to deliver paddle shocks. They administered medications as accurately and quickly as they could through his endotrachael tube that was taped solidly into place, in between the light breaths Marco delivered by ambu bag.

Each shock became a stab into their own hearts when they finally heard the strained, almost voiceless cries from Red as she ran toward them. They rushed by as she fell headlong into the sharpest, freshest grief anyone could ever possibly know. The loss of a soul mate.

They didn't remember lifting up Chet's still form to the hose bed on top of the engine. They only briefly motioned to Dr. Morton, to join them, with Cap secretly slipping him the initial hopeless strip of asystole they had obtained inside the ruined hole. Morton did so, donning a fire jacket and helmet for safety from a passing fireman. Mike didn't miss a beat, falling into the act of mercy smoothly, acting as a doctor should, for the entire lights and sirens Ward engine trip into Rampart.

-  
Cap didn't go in to the hospital with the rest of his crew. He dried the many tears from his face. Then he combed his hair as best he could with fingers he had cleaned from a relief crew offered water bottle.

Soon, he was presentable.

Howard stepped forward towards him, and said, "Red's in no condition to handle this just yet. Might be because she's been medicated, Dixie says. That's why she probably asked you."

"Ok, Vince. Thanks." Stanley replied, unconsciously rubbing off some soot from his turnout jacket that had, at last, completely dried in the wind.

The moment struck him harder than he thought.

Taking off his helmet, Vince smiled and opened the rear door of his squad car and held out his hand to assist its sole occupant.

A small, slender one accepted his and a tiny female form in a simple red dress lined with blue, got out. Her hair was flaxen red-gold, like her mother's but her eyes.. were all Chet.

"So, you're Lyra Kelly." Stanley said, crouching before her. ::My word.  
She must be at least six or seven years old already.:: he thought with wonder. "Do you know who I am?"

Chet's daughter caught sight of her mother, highly upset and being comforted by Dixie McCall, and trembled. But to her credit, she didn't cry. "You're the captain. Of my dad's fire station. I've seen your picture on the mantle. Along with Roy and Mikey and Johnny and Marco and.." she broke off, the first sign of distress clouding her amber eyes.

"Don't be scared. You're safe. Is it just you and Red in your family along with daddy?"

"Uh huh... I don't have any sisters. Not yet, anyway. Mommy talks about getting more babies. But that's for later."

Stanley felt an upwelling of sudden grief, but he suppressed it.

He took the willowy child's hands into his own and was amazed that she didn't flinch from the smell of smoke, and sweat.  
::The dear thing's probably used to it, from Chet coming home unshowered on heavy-shift nights.::

Blinking back visceral reactions, Stanley smiled, but he let the vestiges of sadness frame his eyes. "But your dad has brothers.. Lots of them. Uh,..A-And they came to help your daddy today when he fell down a hole at work. But despite all their fire trucks and first aid boxes, they couldn't do enough to save him, hon.." he said, his voice cracking. "I was there the whole time and.. we did the best.. the best that we could. I'm so sorry, Lyra. Do you understand?"

The child's glowing face shattered, and beamed in beauty, too.  
"I'll try, but it won't be easy. *sniff* I loved my daddy." And Lyra melted into Cap's arms in a paroxysm of grief so profound, that it swept him up into its teeth, too.  
"So did I." said Hank Stanley and he completely broke down. He set his helmet onto her head as he began sobbing, "So did I." in a muffled whisper into her soft hair.

Together, weeping, they joined the arms of her tearful mother, and Dixie's offering of empathy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Captains Roy and Johnny sat watching Captain Stanley returning from that painful day of long ago.

"Still hurts, doesn't it?" Roy asked gently.

Their old captain blinked, and rubbed his eyes tiredly.  
"Yeah. But not so much anymore. If it did, I wouldn't be keeping firm reminders of the Phantom around.." Hank smiled lightly, tossing a head at the bulletin board behind them once again.

Johnny smiled lightly at the can Hank pointed at, "Man how many showers did I actually take from that thing?"

Roy pulled out an old medical pad. "26....And a half, if you count the one you dodged by the mop closet." he said, peering at his ancient beloved hatch marks.

"Oh, that one?" Cap said in amusement. "You mean the one you got only partially soaked at where that pretty little thing of a mom thought you were the captain?"

The trio laughed.

"Doesn't matter now, does it?" asked Johnny archily.  
"Heh. Because I finally AM one."

"Feels good, doesn't it, boys?" Stanley wanted to know,  
resting his chin on a casual hand and elbow.

"Yeah.." they both said. "A dream come true."

FIN Episode 51, Season Six Finale What's A Dedicated Captain Like You Doing.  
Emergency Theater Live

---------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Captain Stanley looking into a dark hole.

Photo: A dusty body in gray rubble.

Photo: The gang picking up a fallen firefighter.

Photo: Chet, Big Red, the belly dancer, and Lyra, their daughter!

Photo: Roy, looking oily and grief stricken.

Photo: Cap, crying in the kitchen.

Photo: Johnny, getting hit with a water can.

*  
Emergency Theater Live =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

ETL Hosts : Patti Keiper and Erin James in the United States

** Emergency Theater Live "Offstory" Email Address For Midi Music Requests and General Inquiries . Emergency Theater Live Homepage

.com/group/emergencytheaterlive Writer's Pre-Production Distribution Site

.com/emergencyfans Emergency Theater Live /Emergency Fans Unite at MySpace

ETL's Emergency Community Forum /

____________________________________

Mark VII Productions, NBC, and Universal owns all of Emergency! and its Characters. 2009 . All rights reserved.

=========================

***NOTE: All author writings submitted to the theater will be set free onto the web to reach as many readers as we can manage to find. Contributing to any ETL episode means that has permission to publish your work in the manner presented here on this website and on text versions of the stories on other sites. All web audience writers or volunteer consultants and their corresponding emails will be duly recorded and left in place within each show's music and imaged airing episode, pointing out that fan or professional EMS personnel's creative contribution. Theater Host- Emergency Theater Live! .. 


End file.
